Windows 10 ramps up universal apps ecosystem

BI Intelligence

Microsoft held its Microsoft Windows 10 Device Briefing on Tuesday in New York City, where it unveiled a full range of new devices, including the Windows Phone flagship, a new laptop, and a new Xbox controller. However, it was the announcement of the company's efforts to build out its app platform that may be the most crucial element to Microsoft's mobile comeback efforts.

Previous Windows Phone versions, like the most recent Windows Phone 8.1, struggled to gain traction in large part due to its lack of apps. The problem was a catch-22: Consumers didn't want to come to a mobile platform that was lacking in apps, and developers didn't want to spend time and resources developing apps for a platform where there are relatively few consumers.

Universal apps are the wall-less approach Microsoft is taking to app development, in which one app store houses apps for all types of devices, and built-in adaptive qualities make an app usable on large and small devices alike.

There were over 1.25 billion visits to the Windows 10 app store in the past 10 weeks. While this Microsoft-provided figure doesn't give enough context to infer download volume, the company did state that Windows 10 developers are seeing significantly higher engagement on the new platform. Developer revenue has increased by a factor of four over the past 10 weeks and in line with growth in overall app usage.

Major companies like Facebook and Instagram are building out universal apps for the Windows platform. Facebook will roll out Windows 10 apps for its main business, as well as for its ancillary products, including Instagram and Facebook Messenger.

Microsoft has a long way to go to become properly competitive with Android and iOS. The Windows Store has around 670,000 apps, compared with the App Store's 1.5 million, and Google Play's 1.6 million. 

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Microsoft's universal app approach could potentially eliminate one of the biggest hurdles to Windows Phone adoption, and its success could help Windows 10 become a viable competitive platform against the likes of Android and iOS. This will become more evident as the difference between mobile and more productive devices lessens. At the event, Microsoft announced that there are now 110 million devices running Windows 10, an increase of 10 million over the last month.

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Source: Windows 10 ramps up universal apps ecosystem