Do Windows Apps Have Any Future?

[stlbud]

I'm curious. Why would anyone go to the trouble of developing or updating a Windows "modern" app considering the current environment. As I understand it, the current "Universal" app was supposed to bridge the environments between Windows Phone, Windows RT and regular Windows. It appears Windows RT has no future except for a trivial update that will come in October. Also, it appears that Microsoft is not being fully honest when they promise new Lumia phones, but then fired most if not all of the phone development team. Windows 10 appears to have deprecated touch. So what is left? Where do Windows Universal Apps really fit into the grand scheme of things? Is there any particular reason to develop apps in an environment that is so restrictive?

 

[EthanDavis]

Live tiles, push notifications / action center integration, Cortana integration, ability to run them universally on Hololens, Surface Hub, Xbox One, and more...

 

[GreyFox7]

IDK it must be a pretty big deal to make one since nobody is making any.

 

[GiorgioG]

iOS & Android have the lion's share of the mobile/tablet app developers' attention. That's where they can get the most exposure & bang for their buck. As a software developer by trade I make a living building .NET backend services and on the side I maintain & build iOS & Android apps. No one has ever shown an interest in having Windows Store apps developed...from smaller businesses all the way on up to Fortune 500 companies - they all want iOS first, and Android second (maybe!) The lack of demand is the only issue IMO. Building Windows Apps is not especially more difficult (I'd say it's probably easier even) than iOS/Android.

That said - I pre-ordered my first Surface (SP4 i7/16/512) and I may take a stab at building some apps, but to be honest I'm not sure what kind of apps might be useful. As long-time Surface users, any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[stlbud]

iOS & Android have the lion's share of the mobile/tablet app developers' attention. ... No one has ever shown an interest in having Windows Store apps developed ... The lack of demand is the only issue IMO. ...

That seems to follow my understanding of the situation. Microsoft maintains "Modern Apps" are the future and that legacy Windows "desktop" apps will be deprecated. I don't see that happening. I don't see any effort beyond Microsoft to make that happen. Apps that have been developed seem to be languishing in the store and will probably never be updated. Even some of Microsoft's own apps have been neglected until they have become unstable. The Facebook app in particular seems have seizures while updating content and has been missing key features for a long time. There doesn't seem to be _ANY_ interest in reviewing complaints much less updating the app.