14 DAY TRIAL // I think everyone knows by now that Windows phones no longer have a future and it’s only just a matter of months until Microsoft retires Windows 10 Mobile once and for all.
But by the time this happens, launching the Microsoft Store and downloading apps on Windows Phone 8.x just got a little bit more complicated due to a silent change that likely took many developers by surprise.
In just a few words, when opening a Store page in your browser on a Windows Phone 8 or 8.1 device you can no longer launch the download link in the Microsoft Store by clicking the “Get” button.
The reason is unknown at this point, and Microsoft hasn’t offered a statement on this, which isn’t necessarily surprising given how little work the company actually puts in its mobile platform right now.
But as AdDuplex notes, there’s a workaround that actually fixes the broken links and which can be used by developers to continue earning money from their apps until the platform gets the ax. And it all comes done to the “zune:” protocol, which apparently can be used to access apps in the Microsoft Store.
So many Windows phones still in use
Basically, what this trick does is turn to a link with the zune protocol that looks something like this:
zune:navigate?appid=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
“You may be wondering where to get the GUID version of your app’s ID? In current Partner Center it’s not presented anywhere on the App identity page. However, you can most likely get it in your .appxmanifest file in your solution or WNS/MPNS (push notification) page under the same App management section in the Partner Center,” AdDuplex explains.
While it’s still possible for users to launch the Store manually and search for apps on their own, this little trick makes sure developers won’t lose any downloads just because of Microsoft’s silent change.
And in case you’re thinking Windows Phone is no longer worth the effort, it actually is. AdDuplex says its ad network spotted no less than 400,000 Windows Phone 8 devices in just a single day, so while it seems that this platform is dead, it’s more active than even Microsoft itself expected.