Facebook has decided to delete its app from the Windows 10 online store. The cause the few users who use it daily
If you are among the very few users in the world who want to install the Facebook app on Windows 10, know that it is now useless to look for it in the Microsoft Store: Facebook has removed it permanently. It's not a big loss, but it's a big signal.
On the Microsoft store now only the Messenger, Messenger Beta and Facebook Watch apps remain, the only ones that, in fact, can still make sense. Virtually no one, in fact, has ever used Facebook from the dedicated app on Windows 10: almost everyone has always preferred to open Facebook from the browser, whatever it is. Facebook itself, in previous communications, had warned users that it would remove the app and suggested they use the social network via the browser. That Facebook was planning to remove its main app from Microsoft's store, then, was already in the air for quite some time.
Facebook farewell to Windows 10 from February 28
Recently the company had informed its users that the app would be removed permanently on February 28 and so it was: the app disappeared from the Microsoft Store. According to MSPowerUser, a few weeks ago Facebook sent an email to users who use the app warning them that "this app will stop working on Friday, February 28, 2020. You can still access all of your friends and favorite Facebook features by logging in through your browser at www.facebook.com. For the best experience, make sure you're using the latest version of supported browsers, including the new Microsoft Edge."
Windows 10: the app flop
Facebook's choice comes in a very difficult context for the Microsoft Store: this online app store has never really broken through to users because, to be fair, the apps themselves haven't. Today, much of the use of a Windows 10 computer comes through the browser, though there's certainly a dedicated app to do the same things outside of online browsing software.
And yet users still prefer the browser, and so even the much-vaunted Universal Web Platform apps have proven to be a failure. In fact, Microsoft itself announced at the beginning of February that the monetization program for these apps would soon be closed. There are also rumors about a possible farewell to the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 Business and Education versions. In short, a flop on all fronts.
Instagram in PWA
If the UWPs don't break through, perhaps the PWAs will, the Progressive Web Apps that should represent the synthesis between an app and a website and that are not tied to a specific operating system, like the UWPs. The latest PWA to hit the Microsoft Store is Instagram, which not only streams content but also allows access to direct messages.