New ways Microsoft is enticing developers to use Windows app store

By Fionna Agomuoh May 24, 2022

The Microsoft Build 2022 conference is now underway through Thursday and the brand is revealing a host of updates to its app store in particular.

The Microsoft Store will soon feature Microsoft Store Ads, which will be powered by Microsoft Advertising. The brand said the upcoming feature will allow developers to market their apps to the proper users and highlight new experiences to users. Microsoft said it will soon begin a pilot program for developers to design ad campaigns within Microsoft Advertising. Currently, developers can sign up for the Microsoft Store Ads waitlist.

The updated Microsoft Store in Windows 11. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Microsoft also has announced it will introduce the Amazon Appstore preview on Windows 11 to five new countries by the end of the year. They include France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the U.K. This expansion will allow for the continued growth of Amazon’s app index on Windows 11, of which there are already thousands, Microsoft noted.

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The brand has also confirmed the ending of the wait-list program for Win32 apps in the Microsoft Store. This will allow even more applications compatibility with the Microsoft Store, in particular those that run on C++, WinForms, WPF, MAUI, React, Rust, Flutter, and Java, –as long as they run on Windows. Once applications are available on the Microsoft Store, developers also have access to important statistics and data on user downloads and usage.

The Win32 apps wait-list program ends not long after Microsoft added its own Microsoft Teams as a downloadable app on the Microsoft Store, after five years of it being a primarily manual download program. Many publications noted that several commonly used applications, such as Google Chrome and Steam, were not allowed on the Microsoft Store. It will be interesting to see which apps will now come to the app store with the restrictions lifted.

The complete Microsoft Build sessions catalog is now available for public viewing. The Microsoft Build conference is free and can be attended virtually.

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Computing Writer

Fionna Agomuoh is a technology journalist with over a decade of experience writing about various consumer electronics topics…

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