Microsoft has announced that it will attempt to close the ‘app gap’ between its Windows Phone store, the iOS App Store and the Android Play Store by 2015.
The head for Windows Phone, Joe Belfiore, posted his views on Twitter, discussing how Microsoft would increase the number of apps it had to compete with iOS and Android. Windows Phone has long lagged behind its two major competitors in terms of apps, but now it’s growing in profile, that could be set to change. Just last week, the official Twitter Vine app for Windows Phone was released, bringing with it a host of new features optimised for the Microsoft smartphone.
On Twitter, Belfiore wrote: “We’re all gonna look back on the end of 2014 as the ending of the app-gap for Windows Phone. The 3rd ecosystem is decidedly here!” However, when a fan questioned if he meant the end of 2013, Belfoire appeared to agree with them, maybe indicating that the increase in Windows Phone apps will come even sooner.
Belfiore then went on to announce the new Windows Phone apps for Instagram and Google’s social mapping service Waze. The Instagram BETA app will be particularly exciting on Windows Phone, as devices like the Nokia Lumia 1020 have brilliant cameras which will really make it great for users. The Linear and Radial Tilt-Shift features will make the most of the Windows Phone’s high quality camera apps and could mean an increase in numbers for Instagram.
The problem that Windows Phone has with securing apps is that it isn’t one of the big two operating systems – iOS and Android. App companies usually only develop their applications for the two main systems, as it’s just not worth it for the Windows Phone. With the recent high-profile apps released for Windows Phone, perhaps we could be seeing a change in this.