Barclays Bank in UK nixes their Windows Phone app

The Barclays Bank app for Windows Phone has been one of the best supported and most full featured banking apps on the OS, but with even Microsoft not supporting the OS with their latest apps it was inevitable that Barclays will some day kill the app.

That day now has a date, as Barclays has announced in a letter that support for the app will end in February 2018, with users no longer able to log in.

They write:

Dear Customer,
We’re making some important updates to your mobile banking app. From February you’ll no longer be able to log into your app from your Windows phone. We’re sorry for any disruption this may cause.
Why are we making the change?
We’re committed to providing you with the best, most secure version of the app. With these devices we’re no longer able to meet the extremely high standard that we set ourselves and that you deserve. We hope that the options below will allow you to continue carrying out your banking quickly and easily.

Barclays suggest users use the web, telephone banking or switch to iOS or Android.

As mentioned above, given the commitment and level of service Barclays has shown so far I can not really blame them for ending support of an ever dwindling user base.  Unfortunately the dream of a UWP app has not materialized, which is a pity given the convienience available when logging in via an app, vs the cumbersome 3 step two-factor process needed on the website.

Unless Microsoft at some point manages to massively increase support for UWP apps the app gap will eventually start affecting desktop Windows also, with the only real solution being a built-in Android emulator in Windows.

Do our readers agree?

Via Reddit, WindowsLatest.