UWP was meant to help Windows 10 Mobile gain apps by using the mass of Windows 10 users to encourage companies to support the platform.
Unfortunately, engagement with apps on Windows 10 is even poorer than Windows 10 Mobile, and this strategy has not been successful.
The latest evidence of this is the Guardian dropping support for their Windows 10 UWP app, saying:
We don’t take discontinuing services lightly and Windows continues to be an important platform for our readers. However, after taking a number of key factors into consideration – such as current usage, costs to support and effort to maintain parity with Android and iOS – we believe we can provide a better experience through our website for our readers using Windows.
The app is exiting support today and will continue to work until it breaks. No further updates are planned. The Guardian recommends users use their website, which they say is optimised for mobile and tablets.
The issue is of course that websites on the desktop offer a better experience to Windows users than applications, the opposite of the issue on phones, and without a mobile platform, there is no need for companies to maintain both a desktop app and a website.
Microsoft appears to have realized this, with a move to ingest progressive web apps into the store and to make Windows more browser like with their new Tab Shell, which places desktop apps and websites on an equal and near indistinguishable footing.
If you want to grab the app before it is removed from the store you can download the Guardian from the Windows store here:
