The YouTube (and other apps') problem on Windows Phone, as I see it

[despertador]

Some of the best YouTube apps for WP are known as myTube and MetroTube (there are more, but I can't list them all). Of course, there are also YouTube wrappers that are packaged as apps which are in the Store. Now, that's okay, as it's not the most straightforward thing to develop an app, and the people who publish those apps may want to share their creations. The problem is, the YouTube wrapper apps are flooding the WP Store (at least the US market). Nope, not exaggerating! Search for "YouTube" on the Store and it'll take you more than a few several flicks to find one of the most highly regarded 3rd party client, myTube! Why I find this kind of alarming is that any new WP user, including those who found a shiny Lumia from their local Verizon store, won't know that myTube or Metrotube even exists! One search for "YouTube" and the first several apps they try out will be disappointing. It's not a surprise that some of the newer WP users believe that our platform has a huge lack of quality applications!

Now, I'm not saying that all those devs take down their apps, as that's pretty unethical. You can't really force every Joe and Sally that buys a WP to read WPCentral either. I think the best action for MS to take at this point is either to improve their search algorithms to return the most relevant and highly rated/popular apps, or to have an obvious filter setting to let some of the users discover the hidden gems of our Store. But if MS takes no action about this at all, it'll be pretty hard to mitigate the usual WP has no apps stereotype.

 

[Lumiant]

Most of those are just links to the browser versions, and i wouldn't mind taking them off the store. I don't want the store to look like androids mess.. I personally use Youtube HD, works fine and has all the bells and whistles of the paid ones (minus a feature here and there just to be on the safe side).