Things are not looking great for the Windows platform today after another important app has been pulled. The app in question is no other than HERE Maps, a mapping app that was the main option on Windows Phone ever since Nokia came onboard.
Now that Nokia is gone and now that HERE maps is no longer a part of the former mobile giant, the developers have decided to kick Windows 10 to the curb and move on with their lives. This I a huge blow for Windows as Microsoft pushes to get more developers on this new train the company has on the rails.
Microsoft is working hard to convince developers that its new Universal App platform is the way to go, but so far, it is not working. Several developers have decided to remove their apps from the store. These apps inclide the likes of American Airlines, Chase Bank, Bank of America, NBC, Pinterest, and Kabam. They are all gone, and we can't say for sure if they will ever return in the future.
"We made the Here apps compatible with Windows 10 by using a workaround that will no longer be effective after June 30, 2016," explains Here spokesperson Pino Bonetti via the HERE blog. "To continue offering the HERE apps for Windows 10 would require us to redevelop the apps from the ground up, a scenario that led to the business decision to remove our apps from the Windows 10 store."
The sad thing about this debacle for Microsoft, is the fact that HERE Maps is a solid platform, but the company failed to secure the rights to the mapping platform when it was in talks to purchase Nokia's handset division.
Folks who have used HERE Maps knows that it is better than Bing Maps, and had the potential to compete toe-to-toe with Google Maps. With Nokia out of the picture, HERE Maps seems to be just another mapping platform as Google continues to bring new features to its leading service.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has one last chance to impress developers, and it must do this at the next Build Developer Conference in April of this year.