What's in store for Windows Store?

[ED the new guy]

Windows Central has spilled a lot of digital ink on the subject of Windows Store (does anyone call it Microsoft Store?). Some of the stories are realistic but many look to a bright future.

The one Windows Store app that I _actually_ use recently announced that it soon will be pulled from Windows store.

It's called "Uitzending Gemist" (only available in the Dutch store) and is an app that gives access to public Dutch TV. The public organization in charge of providing on-line access to these TV programs has decided to end support for Windows Phone and for Android versions 4.2 and earlier.

I'm guessing that they've looked at usage statistics and likely found that the Windows app simply isn't being used in large numbers relative to the Android and iOS versions. This is despite the fact that it runs (well) on Windows 10 desktop and is a decent app as far as apps go (it's essentially a port of the iOS app which means it's decent quality).

If Windows Store can't provide enough users in a country in which Mac penetration rates are lower than in English speaking North America then what's the future for Windows Store?

FYI: to see the page go to help.npo.nl slash vragen slash 16687

 

[anon(10440410)]

Universal Window Platform apps are being pretty much so abandoned by many companies who also have iOS and Android versions of the same app, because of the fact that most people are using iPhones and Android phones.

That said, you may want to write the company and inform them of a new technology called Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). Dan Rubino made a very nice video on the subject you can view here.

It's especially difficult for publicly funded institutions to maintain multiple versions of their apps, due to tight budgets. So it would definitely be to their advantage to abandon not only the Windows, and aging Android versions, but to abandon ALL versions of their app and just write one PWA that works for all platforms.

 

[ManofGod1000]

Yeah, it rather sucks that Microsoft produced the Store about 6 years ago and other than recent Play Anywhere games and some big name apps, like Netflix, they have not done anything with it. They did not have to have the Phone in order to make the Store successful, they just needed to actually do something with the Store and not just expect it to do things all on it's own, without support.

Hell, even Garmin will not update their app for Windows 10 and that is just wrong, in my opinion. (Windows 10 itself, not the phone app.)

 

[GJSman]

If Microsoft wants the Store to be successful, they are going to have to get more aggressive. Increasing the money split will help a little, but only once the users start coming. IMHO, this is what Microsoft should do:

1. Switch Windows 10 Home to the "Warn me of apps outside the Store" by default. This does not block Store apps, but displays a message asking if you want to continue, with the option to open the Store or install the app anyway. This will build knowledge of the Store tremendously.
2. Roll out more Windows 10 S devices... or wait for WCOS which (theoretically) will be Store only...
3. Clean up the Store by finally deprecating every Windows 8-era app or Windows Phone app from showing on the Windows 10 Store on the Desktop. Kill it, if you have to, which you do.
4. Allow third-party Store publishing. I.e. You publish through the Store like usual, but the company can offer the app through a secure download through their own servers in exchange for the biggest cut possible. For example, Autodesk would never give up several percent of their AutoCAD licensing, so allow AutoCAD to be in the Store downloading from Autodesk servers in exchange for Autodesk getting every penny of the price (no split).
5. Remove the EdgeHTML requirement. Just having Firefox + Chrome in Store will be a dramatic boost in popularity, especially if the Firefox Download / Chrome Download pages instead redirect users to download through the Store ("Get app from Microsoft").

 

[mobilereboot]

I've got a $100 credit for the Store that expires in June. I cashed in my Bing rewards points thinking I could use them to pay for my Office 365 subscription. Unfortunately that doesn't appear to be possible. Sometimes I look through the Windows/Microsoft Store and see what I might possibly buy, and there really isn't anything. I have an Xbox 360 not an Xbox One, so not really much I can do there either.

Microsoft and WC can tout until they are blue in the face about how Microsoft is all about the corporate customer now. Well that's fine and dandy. Meanwhile, one of the most iconic brands in history, Skype, is bleeding out its 300 million customers thanks to focus on the enterprise, and Windows is going to end up fading from the home as well.

 

[anon(10457861)]

I'd say that Build 2018 seems to have answered this question as 'No'. The Windows store has a future, maybe, but a bright future, No. Microsoft's focus at Build was squarely on the enterprise. Every demo, every talk, every new product offering brought us back to Azure, IoT as it relates to corporations, and Microsoft 365, which is solely an enterprise offering.

PWAs offer a small glimmer of hope, but without mobile devices to run PWAs on you'd be better off just running the full website in a browser in most cases. UWP and the Windows Store are primarily a consumer offering, a market Microsoft is not focusing on presently.

 

[anon(10457861)]

If you want proof positive that Microsoft has abandoned the consumer market for the enterprise just read this article about Skype from Bloomberg.

 

[AgentTheGreat]

Since we're talking about the future, folks have to move on to PWAs.

I can easily envision one single "app language" all platforms understand and work with, with features enabled on each platform the same way current HTML and CSS can target specific browsers for browser specific functionality. But UWP? No.

In 10 years time I don't see stores - even App Store or Google Play Store - the way they are now. We will outgrow this concept by then, and simply have websites that are actually apps, working the same way on all platforms. It will only take 2 to 3 years for PWAs to reach their full potential, and people will be looking at running native code through​ PWAs for high performance games and stuff.

Let me add something here: until very recently - the April update - the store was an unreliable, useless piece of software on my laptop. You could never know if it was going to connect and actually open up or not. The downloads felt very unreliable, especially during the W8 and W8.1 days and the whole thing felt generally unfinished. (Don't get me started on the W10M access to store and the disaster of an app).
That has been the first reason I never checked out the store.

Now Microsoft says they have access to 700 million active users, and if these people are actually convinced to check the store in combination with the new, higher share of revenue, that can be a very lucrative opportunity for developers.

But eventually PWAs will overtake UWP and other app stores IMO.

 

[ucyimDa_Ruler]

I don't understand why people focus on the store. It is a bad play. You need to look into future technology which always boils down to Web vs Native. PWA is the next generation of web that'll incorporate responsive design with more support for multi-threading via workers. Mixed in comes payment support and more offline storage.

There is a so-called manifest destiny for Web to become native if not better. Every few years a piece of new technology will emerge to get it one step closer. Eventually, it'll work. That being said, where SHOULD companies invest? Native technology that has to be rebuilt every for every platform release? Or target web that works across more platform - you just upgrade it to take advantage of new functionality.

Xamarin takes care of this. But Xamarin produces native applications. I'm sorry but Xamarin is going to die. Unless they create an Html port for their XAML language. It sounds far fetched but if you look into more emerging technology like Web Assembly then you realize the future power of that idea.

For those that don't know Web Assembly, think ActiveX except it is standardized and implemented in every browser. Browsers that don't support it degrade into a native JavaScript experience. Web Assembly is an attempt to replace JavaScript with bytecode that runs natively, has superior performance and allows higher level languages to be written on top like Java and C#.

The web sounds promising and thinking of Microsoft they are always in it for the long haul. So to come around full circle, yes UWP is its cousins will die horrible death if they don't provide a port to web technology. The death of mobile was your clear indicator to doubt UWP and to focus on web.

 

[deadonthefloor]

Yeah, that Bloomberg author knows nothing.
Skype and Skype for Business are two different products.

Skype's problems started when MS told them to take on the MSN Messenger users and move to a central server architecture from its original P2P architecture.

 

[bleached]

But eventually PWAs will overtake UWP and other app stores IMO.

Sounds like a world where there is no reason to use anything but a Chromebook.

 

[plettza]

Good find. Skype has had so many changes that I don't bother with it any more. I don't know what to expect with it. I used to Skype my parents all the time and use the call credits I had with my Office 365 Home subscription but I just couldn't be bothered using it.

What a pity Microsoft is accelerating its trajectory to be an enterprise only provider. Oh well, whatever works for them.

And people can say what they want about Ballmer but at least he believed in Microsoft's consumer products as much as the enterprise offerings. It's a shame those consumer offerings have been dropped for the most part.

 

[Gregorius Magnus]

Without a mobile platform, the Store itself is never to take on.

 

[Stephen Townsley]

The issue is really running a mobile store on a PC without a mobile platform. The "universal" bit in UWP is not. We are left with just the PC and "Fisher Price" apps that make sense on mobile but no sense in the PC environment.

To be fair Apple's Mac store isn't making waves either.

UWP is dead for apps. It will crawl along as a wrapper to get web apps and win32 applications in the store. It will exist as a ghost town of apps that are best used on a non-existant mobile platform.

 

[Aden Rossinni]

Yeah, MS store layout is far better than iOS and Android, as per usual. Amount of apps? Irrelevant. Nobody cares anymore. I can do absolutely everything on my X3 and 950xl, AND 640XL....So....with PWA the differences will become completely irrelevant.

 

[Trix256]

Not a lot of mentions at Build. PWA would be great but i only know of one that I use (twitter which i like). Hard to say it's great when there's not a lot of product. Get Instagram, Facebook and others on board already

 

[justjun555]

the biggest hurdle is to get traditional Windows users to use store regularly which unfortunately is not happening.
and after the death of Windows Mobile uwp apps has no purpose.
small tablets are also almost nonexistent after intel discontinued atom processor so target audience is even less.
pwa is good idea if mainstream apps adopts it then it would keep store alive but it can't be only plan Microsoft need to take actions for future of Windows.

 

[BanditoTR]

But UWP are not only mobile apps but desktop apps. Something companies don't understand. I use Messenger on the desktop despite not having a Windows Phone for example.

 

[tgp]

But UWP are not only mobile apps but desktop apps. Something companies don't understand.

What companies do understand is that desktop users don't use Store apps (in general). Even though the numbers are there, they're not worth much. While mobile users are a captive audience, that market has all but dried up.

 

[Wevenhuis]

The future of the microsoft store is currently unknown, except for the fact it has "potential". With windows have a large marketshare globally is has a market potential.

Focussing on "uitzending gemist" NPO government incentives has, also in my experinece, brought a good app to the windows platform. The reality is that the Dutch market is a relatively small market in the grand scheme of things, and the app focussing mainly on Dutch programming for a potential of 17 million viewers is commendable, but a mere spec in the larger picture. They will likely only invest in the platform with the best marketshare use and reach potential. Most people I think don't watch dutch TV on their smartphone or pc, but on TV. Then there's the reality that developing and servicing an app is an expensive affair. NPO is still free to a degree so the app in essence is sponsored by taxpayer money and the apps content has to be justified.
I think Uitzendig gemist does have a chance as a comeback in the form of PWA. For me the critical question will be what the value will be over the webbrowser. I think, to a degree this comes back to microsoft. The biggest drawback for me to still use the browser, is that offline caching of app content and saving to a local device is too minor. If there was a deeper and larger caching to a local device for offline viewing of video content, it would be a better value usecase to use. I'm thinking about preloading content for offline viewing, for example for educational purpsoses at a meeting, school, or on the road on trips in the car or train or abroad to show others. Perhaps a few permission to edit the content by trimming relevant content in PowerPoint or sway presentations would be a big help, without compromising copyright.
If these issues can be adressed by microsoft I think PWA could have great potential in the store and hold a brighter future with the future of windows.