Microsoft has been completely focused on Windows 10 over the past couple of years and it would like developers and creators to do the same. The company has decided to stop accepting new Windows 8 apps later this year. This is a subtle nudge to developers that they should focus their energies on creating apps for Windows 10 instead.
Microsoft has confirmed on its official blog that it’s going to stop accepting new apps for Windows Phone 8.x or earlier and Windows 8/8.1 from October 31st. The company will later also stop distributing app updates to the aforementioned versions. Updates will only be made available to users on Windows 10.
App updates won’t be distributed to Windows Phone 8.x or earlier versions starting July 1st, 2019. Developers will be able to publish updates to all apps but they will only be made available to Windows 10 devices.
Microsoft will ultimately stop distributing app updates to Windows 8/8.1 devices on July 1st, 2023. Developers will be allowed to publish updates to all apps but they will also be released only to users on Windows 10.
The company encourages developers to port their existing apps to the Universal Windows Platform so that they can create a single Windows 10 app package that can be installed on all supported device families.
Filed in . Read more about Apps, Microsoft and Windows 10. Source: blogs.windows