Why You Should Forget About Windows Store and Microsoft App Ecosystem Quang Lam Follow Feb 26, 2017 · Unlisted

Update on 03/29/2018: I didn’t expect this post to receive this many views and comments. Since I published it, Microsoft has made many radical changes under Nadella’s leadership. Although Windows 10, Microsoft Store and UWP still don’t live up to my expectations (Personally, I’m using Apple devices & Google services), I think the company is going in the right direction. I’ll keep the Windows platform on my radar as many problems mentioned in the following post have been addressed, and hopefully, Microsoft will continue to improve its platform steadily in the future.

My Story

I have developed apps for Windows for more than two years.

It first started when I participated in a Microsoft Hackathon in Vietnam. At that time, thanks to Nokia brand, Windows Phone was a big thing in the country, and it took nearly 25% of the smartphone market. I only knew basic web programming and knew nothing about creating mobile apps. But as a young boy passionate about technology, I was totally excited as it was my first time participating in a hackathon.

There, I created a basic news reader app using WinJS, an official Javascript library from Microsoft, which allowed developers to create web app with native-like user interface. Even though the app was minimal, ugly and did not win the contest; it intrigued me about the potentials of the platform: Unlike Android or iOS, Windows allowed me to build web apps with excellent performance and access to all native APIs.

Three months later, I released 5translate, a simple Google Translate client for Windows Phone 8.1. I have never expected it to be so well-received by the community. In just a few months, it received hundred thousands of downloads while I kept updating the app continuously with new features. When I started thinking about improving the app’s branding and renamed it to Modern Translator, it had already included almost every feature Google offered on Android and iOS.

Modern Translator’s changes.

Additionally, during the time, DVLUP together with the gifts Microsoft gave me was wonderful and made me feel how well the company treated its developers. Nevertheless, in other aspects, Microsoft kept disappointing me (and as I assumed, other developers) again and again.

It began when I asked a Microsoft community evangelist to feature my app. Because at the moment, as I believed, it was the only translation app designed specifically for Windows Phone 8.1 while Microsoft had already featured another similar app which had not been updated for months. Then, the Microsoft guy told me my app was not approved because it used Google Translate and competed directly to their in-house product, Microsoft Translator. The answer was unacceptable for me not only because Microsoft failed to compete fairly with its developers but also failed to explain why an inferior app was still being featured.