USA - Windows Phone Store hits 150,000 apps, doubled in last year

The Windows Phone Store has doubled in size in the last year. 75,000 apps were published in the last 12 months, taking the total number to 150,000, according to the official Windows Phone Developer Blog.

Like the Windows Phone Store, Apple's App Store took two years to reach 150,000 apps, and Apple's now boasts around 740,000. So that's a pretty great rate of growth for Windows Phone. And it dwarfs BlackBerry App World's 90,000.

As well as the 75,000 new apps published, there were more than 300,000 app updates, notes Todd Brix, senior director of Windows Phone Apps Team.

This year, Microsoft added the ability to complain about an app. Finding the relevant apps was also made easier, with the addition of smart lists, and with Bing powering the searches. New collections were also added, along with recommendations for Windows Phone 8 customers.

On average, those using Windows Phone downloaded 54 apps each, which seems a lot to me. I wonder how many iOS and Android users download on average.

Microsoft is justifiably proud of itself. "We literally set a new foundation this year with the deployment of all-new infrastructure -- a new client platform, new developer toolset, new Dev Center, new catalog infrastructure, and all-new global service," Brix writes. "I know transitions can be frustrating, but it is now complete and customers and developers are already beginning to reap the benefits with a better app and store experience, faster performance and more robust tools."

Windows Phone 8 landed at the end of October, and handsets like the Nokia Lumia 920 and the HTC 8X haven't fared too badly in our reviews. It's just a shame the WhatsApp app seems to be inferior on Microsoft's mobile operating system compared to on iOS or Android.

Cnet

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