It looks like Microsoft is officially removing itself from the mobile market by quietly turning off the Microsoft Store app’s main features. More specifically, Microsoft has turned off the features for Windows 10 Mobile. With this change, Windows 10 Mobile and the first wave of Windows Phones are no longer officially supported.
Users have reported that the store’s homepage isn’t working properly. In addition, the pages for downloading apps and getting updates will not load at all. This problem even affects pages with app details. While it may seem like this is out of the blue, Microsoft announced that support for Windows 10 Mobile devices would end in December 2019. This happened simultaneously with the ending of Windows Phone 8.1 support.
That said, Windows 10 Mobile does support sideloading, which allows users to install apps from places other than the Microsoft Store. It’s worth noting that some users have reported that the store starts working normally again after running the newest offline package.
Microsoft has recently made it very clear that its current strategy is to focus on AI and the PC market, not mobile platforms. However, CEO Satya Nadella recently said that ending support for Windows Phone was a mistake as the mobile device industry is constantly shifting and evolving that they may have lost a crucial bit in the technology market.
