Abandoned Windows Phone Apps

[austinguy23]

I looked at the Windows Phone App Store to see if they have the apps I use most often on my iPhone 4S and whether they are as feature rich as the versions available on iOS.

I noticed some troubling patterns. Often the apps I searched for were, in fact, there. However, the ratings and reviews were horrendous. User reviews stated that the apps no longer worked, were buggy, and lacked a great deal of functionality compared to the same app on other platforms like Android or iOS.

Being a skeptic, I thought that perhaps these could just be false reviews/ratings made by competing developers. That is, until I looked at the apps' last release date. That explained it. These apps were all AT LEAST a year old with some listed as having been last updated in 2010!

I compared the last release dates to the same apps in the iOS App Store and found that they had all been updated within the past MONTH.

No wonder the Windows Phone versions were buggy, missing features, and had awful reviews/ratings. Developers had simply slapped together a Windows Phone port of their apps long ago (likely only because Microsoft at least partially subsidized the effort) and then completely abandoned the apps to whither away while their iOS & Android counterparts continued to enjoy frequent and impressive updates.

I have to say that I find this incredibly disappointing since I was considering upgrading to the Lumia 920 from my iPhone 4S.

Anyone else excited about the Lumia 920's hardware only to be unimpressed by the Windows Phone OS and/or its apps?

 

[laserfox]

Any examples?

In all platforms some devs abandon their work but it is not a widespread case on wp7 or at least that ive noticed on my lumia 900. I still get 5 or more updates everyday from various apps.

Moving from a 4S to lumia 900 you will miss quite a few apps indeed just decide whether those missing apps are a deal breaker or the built in features and excellent OS can be worth the compromise.

 

[austinguy23]

Any examples?

In all platforms some devs abandon their work but it is not a widespread case on wp7 or at least that ive noticed on my lumia 900. I still get 5 or more updates everyday from various apps.

Moving from a 4S to lumia 900 you will miss quite a few apps indeed just decide whether those missing apps are a deal breaker or the built in features and excellent OS can be worth the compromise.

iHeartRadio:
Last updated: 10/20/2010

The Weather Channel:
Last updated 10/21/2010

Match.com:
Last updated: 10/25/2010

Shazam:
Last updated: 5/26/2011


I checked these a week or so ago so I'm assuming the dates have not changed.

Source: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store

 

[tbayrgs]

I compared the last release dates to the same apps in the iOS App Store and found that they had all been updated within the past MONTH.

Not entirely fair comparison considering most devs need to update their apps for iOS 6 and the extra screen real estate on the iPhone 5.

 

[bearda]

Not entirely fair comparison considering most devs need to update their apps for iOS 6 and the extra screen real estate on the iPhone 5.

Sure, but if most of the review comments are saying things have been broken for a while it's pretty clear which wheel is getting the grease.

 

[maflynn]

I'd say wait for win 8 to see if those apps get updated. Devs may be holding off until wp8 hits the streets.

 

[siurpeeman]

Not entirely fair comparison considering most devs need to update their apps for iOS 6 and the extra screen real estate on the iPhone 5.

it's entirely fair. ios 6 and iphone 5 aside, i see a steady stream of app updates to the majority of my apps year round while apps by big developers go without updates for years on wp7 (twitter being a notorious example). and if you're saying app developers have more incentive to push updates for a new os release or for new devices, where were all the app updates for wp 7.5 mango? for that matter, why is there no good twitter client for windows phone? no good instant messaging client? i mean, is im+ still the only one around? where's flipboard? windows phone isn't very compelling to me as a consumer when all the latest and coolest apps come out on ios and android first. don't get me wrong, i love windows phone, and nothing would make me happier than to see the platform take off and succeed. but because of the sorry state of their app marketplace, it's just not a viable option for many consumers.

 

[tbayrgs]

I'd say wait for win 8 to see if those apps get updated. Devs may be holding off until wp8 hits the streets.

^This, I hope.

I had a similar experience when I was occasionally using a Samsung Focus--many of favorite were nowhere to be found or not nearly as robust. Considering there has been literally zero movement with Windows Phone over the past year pending the release of WP8, can't really blame the devs for putting they're time where the money. The problem as I see it is that I don't see users moving to a platform with an immature App Store when there are two more robust options available. We put up with the Android Marketplace and Apple App Store in the early stages of their development because nothing else was available. No matter how great the OS, a lack of quality apps will be a deal breaker for most people.

 

[tbayrgs]

it's entirely fair. ios 6 and iphone 5 aside, i see a steady stream of app updates to the majority of my apps year round while apps by big developers go without updates for years on wp7 (twitter being a notorious example). and if you're saying app developers have more incentive to push updates for a new os release or for new devices, where were all the app updates for wp 7.5 mango? for that matter, why is there no good twitter client for windows phone? no good instant messaging client? i mean, is im+ still the only one around? where's flipboard? windows phone isn't very compelling to me as a consumer when all the latest and coolest apps come out on ios and android first. don't get me wrong, i love windows phone, and nothing would make me happier than to see the platform take off and succeed. but because of the sorry state of their app marketplace, it's just not a viable option for many consumers.

As you can see in my post above yours, I totally agree, just trying to put the OP's observation into the proper context--using this past month as a snapshot is not typical. Most of my apps see at a minimum, some periodic updates, but certainly not every month.

I think MS need to actively recruit (translation: pay) top devs to get their stuff on WP else they are doomed to failure because there is no motivation for devs to get their apps on WP until they have a much larger customer base and customers aren't going to come to WP until there are quality apps.

 

[four]

It might be that you download the initial application then when you open it it says there's an update. That use to happen to me with Symbian.