Earlier this year, Microsoft sent out emails to Windows developers, warning them that they would be removing apps from the Windows Store which did not update their apps to include new app age ratings.
That process only started a few weeks ago, but according to WindowsBlogItalia has already removed 100,000 apps, at least in the Italian version of the store, with the number of apps dropping from 329507 apps on the 26 September 2016 to 239216 apps on the 19th October 2016.
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While it is often hard to separate apps which are genuinely abandoned, vs apps when have not been updated for a long time but are still being monitored by the developers to fix new bugs etc., most would consider developers who do not respond to Microsoft’s warnings as no longer interested in the fate of their app.
When the makers of 100,000 apps can't be arsed to spend five minutes adding an age rating, it's probably fair to say that they aren't exactly excited about Microsoft's UWP vision.
MSPU try to spin this as good for the Windows Store in the longer term, but seeing the number of apps in their Store dropping, rather than rising, probably wasn't something that Microsoft was hoping to see, or expecting to see, just over a year in. If those apps had been selling, then their developers would've taken the time to update them; clearly, though, for 100K of them, the lost units of sales from the Windows 10 Store wasn't significant enough to worry about.
MSPU try to spin this as good for the Windows Store in the longer term, but seeing the number of apps in their Store dropping, rather than rising, probably wasn't something that Microsoft was hoping to see, or expecting to see, just over a year in. If those apps had been selling, then their developers would've taken the time to update them; clearly, though, for 100K of them, the lost units of sales from the Windows 10 Store wasn't significant enough to worry about.
In other news, Microsoft have finally patched Centennial/desktop bridge so that non-UWP apps that get ported to the app store won't brick your PC anymore, so that should help, but still... total apps dropping by 100K isn't exactly a sign of a thriving ecosystem.
UPDATE: It appears those first 100,000 apps were just the beginning.
From Softpedia:
UPDATE: It appears those first 100,000 apps were just the beginning.
From Softpedia:
A few hours ago, we told you that Microsoft removed approximately 100,000 apps from the Windows Store because they had no age ratings, but it turns out that the number is actually bigger than that.
According to a report that was published in German media, Microsoft actually pulled half of the Windows Store apps, at least from the German Store, as part of the same cleaning process.
It appears that the number of apps available for download experienced a dramatic drop from 328,639 to 164,436, which means that no less than 174,203 apps were removed because of the age rating rule.
The affected apps didn't include any of the "big names," and de-listing an app only removes it from the Store, leaving it installed on PCs, so it may be a while before the change would normally become noticeable to the average user. Still, when over half the apps on your year-old storefront are "orphans" whose developers don't care enough fill out a five-minute questionnaire to keep them up for sale, its a pretty clear sign that your ecosystem is far from healthy, and the problem is clearly worse than anyone expected.