What's being done about the app gap?

[Oliverspin]

Since my latest thread got shut down, I'll rephrase it.

What is being done about the app gap? Developer incentives, Microsoft making the apps themselves, etc. I made the mistake of only saying "there's an app gap" instead of inquiring about the next step. So, what is MS doing to fix the problem?

 

[several potatos]

They're doing plenty. Have you not noticed the flood of popular apps this month?
Edit: I meant to also say you should follow central to keep up with the apps. Cheers

 

[DavstarApps]

Microsoft has been doing a lot actually. Look up Microsoft's "Dev Center Benefits" to see the ongoing stuff. They've also done quite a few other promotions over the last year or two. Revenue from the apps themselves usually isn't at the level of iOS and Android right now (maybe the major mainstream ones are an exception, I don't know) but you can make out pretty well just by following the promotions Microsoft does and making some simple apps that do what the challenges ask for. That and now you can build for Win8/Windows Phone with Unity, so tons of games are coming over now as well.

That's all stuff to encourage developers to bring their apps to the platform. It's not something that can be solved overnight, but compared to a year ago, WP is in a much, much better place and continues to improve.

 

[Oliverspin]

Microsoft has been doing a lot actually. Look up Microsoft's "Dev Center Benefits" to see the ongoing stuff. They've also done quite a few other promotions over the last year or two. Revenue from the apps themselves usually isn't at the level of iOS and Android right now (maybe the major mainstream ones are an exception, I don't know) but you can make out pretty well just by following the promotions Microsoft does and making some simple apps that do what the challenges ask for. That and now you can build for Win8/Windows Phone with Unity, so tons of games are coming over now as well.

That's all stuff to encourage developers to bring their apps to the platform. It's not something that can be solved overnight, but compared to a year ago, WP is in a much, much better place and continues to improve.

Okay. That's good to know. I guess all the new app announcements get lost in the endless waterfall of articles. I hope all the promotions are effective.

 

[Oliverspin]

They're doing plenty. Have you not noticed the flood of popular apps this month?
Edit: I meant to also say you should follow central to keep up with the apps. Cheers

What's the news on the Google front? Will any progress ever be made?
Edit: Google apps (YouTube and such...)

 

[DavstarApps]

Okay. That's good to know. I guess all the new app announcements get lost in the endless waterfall of articles. I hope all the promotions are effective.

Following the front page on this site should show you a few new ones it seems almost every day that come over from other platforms. Not a lot of things are exclusive to WP right now though, unfortunately. There are some but most are ones that have equivalents elsewhere.

 

[dinchy87]

I read something yesterday what is interesting. Windows had Foursquare for years now and iPad just got it. Why nobody is there angry because they did not had Foursquare till now?! That was also an app gap.

So i think gaps are everywhere, on every platform and "app gap" is too much subjective, for me there is no gap because i have all the apps i need, for some there is 90% app gap

 

[matt john2]

I read something yesterday what is interesting. Windows had Foursquare for years now and iPad just got it. Why nobody is there angry because they did not had Foursquare till now?! That was also an app gap.

So i think gaps are everywhere, on every platform and "app gap" is too much subjective, for me there is no gap because i have all the apps i need, for some there is 90% app gap

I think the main issue here is app quality not app gap. I've used about over 900 apps already but only few(about 50 or lower) pleased me,edit: Except official apps from MS.

 

[dinchy87]

Yes thats right. But i als osee some users demanding that Microsoft soemhow stops the processing or publishing of this apps that have "lower" quality but thats is unfair. Because every dev begins small. But really every of them. I saw now a screenshot of my app 12 months ago and it wa s"****" last year compared to now. so what if Microsoft had removed my app i would never have developed further. Microsoft is really democratic in terms of this. The same is with reviews, developers can not complain on user reviews even if its clear that the user does not even tested out this app. Microsoft always says "that is the oppinion of the user and we can not change anything there", thats ok, tolerant, this way they are to devs - really tolerant.

 

[matt john2]

do you think the W10 will somehow fix this? i read an article about rudy huyn weeks/months ago, he said that 80(not sure, but close to it) percent of the code he used was from MS(w10,xbox, i dont know what its called, lol) which also makes it easier and faster for him to develop an app so that means it'll be easier for other devs too.

 

[anon(9057135)]

Just Wondering, If your other thread was deleted, why would you make another?