Box, which at one point was one of the biggest fans of Microsoft's UWP push with Windows 10, has decided to abandon the platform completely and pull its apps from the Microsoft Store.
As a result, Box apps for Windows phones, Windows 8 devices, and Windows 10 have been removed from the Microsoft Store, and the company says they will also stop working on March 1. This means that even if you have Box apps installed on your phones or computers, they should no longer be able to connect to your accounts.
The company doesn't reveal the reason for the discontinuation of UWP apps, but it's no secret why this happened. The UWP push hasn't been particularly successful, and the phone platform has completely failed, with Microsoft itself confirming its demise in late 2017.
Box says it will continue to maintain Windows 8 and Windows 10 apps (for desktop), but on mobile it recommends switching to Android or iOS, a piece of advice that most developers who abandon Windows phones adopt.
“For users with an Android or iOS device, we recommend installing our apps for those platforms immediately to start taking advantage of the improved mobile experiences. If a user is on Windows 10, they can continue to access Box via Box Sync or Box Drive Public Beta. If your device is on an alternative platform, we recommend using the mobile web experience to access Box on the go,” Box says.
Seeing Box leave the Microsoft Store is undoubtedly a big blow for Microsoft, especially as the company has been trying to convince major companies and developers to support the UWP idea. For now, however, that's not happening, and the Microsoft Store comes with rather limited options, especially since top developers are still not interested in porting their apps.
