Microsoft Store Closing Door to Windows 8/8.1 (and Windows Phone) -- Visual Studio Magazine

Microsoft Store Closing Door to Windows 8/8.1 (and Windows Phone)

By David Ramel
08/20/2018

Microsoft Store on Oct. 31 will stop accepting new app submissions for Windows Phone 8.x or earlier, along with XAP or APPX packages for Windows 8/8.1.

Windows Phone has long ceased to be a going concern for the company, with an exec last year effectively tweeting about its death after its market share basically shrunk to nothing.

Windows 8.1, however was still garnering 7.56 market share in the Windows-only July 2018 report from StatCounter, which pegged the older Windows 8's share at 2.54 percent.

After ceasing to accept new apps for Microsoft Store on Oct. 31, the company will stop distributing app updates to Windows Phone 8.x or earlier devices on July 1, 2019.

The final milestone in the sunsetting of Windows 8 (introduced in August 2012) and Windows 8.1 (introduced in August 2013), will be July 1, 2023, when Microsoft will stop distributing app updates to Windows 8/8.1 devices.

"We encourage you to explore how you can port your existing app to the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) where you can create a single Windows 10 app package that your customers can install onto all device families," Microsoft said in a post today (Aug. 20). "You can learn more about UWP apps here.

About the Author

David Ramel is an editor and writer at Converge 360.

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