Oliver Haslam on May 10, 2024, 6:55 pm

Microsoft’s First iOS App Marketplace Is A Web App And It’s Coming Soon

Microsoft has confirmed that its first iPhone app marketplace will be available starting in July, although it isn’t yet clear exactly when.

However, notably, the marketplace will not be an app but rather a web app that users will be able to download other apps from.

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act requires that Apple allow third-party app stores, or app marketplaces as Apple prefers to call them, to be used in member countries. There have already been some stores announced and at least one is available for download, but nothing has come close to something similar to what the likes of Microsoft will presumably offer to users.

Bloomberg reports that Microsoft will launch its online store for mobile games in July, saying that the store will debut with some of Microsoft’s own games as well as discounts on in-game items related to existing games like Candy Crush Saga. Microsoft also intends to open the store to other publishers later. As for why the store will be a website, we’re told it’s all about cross-platform compatibility.

Microsoft saw an opportunity to create a store that “goes truly across devices — where who you are, your library, your identity, your rewards travel with you versus being locked to a single ecosystem,” Bond said. The company’s intention is to facilitate gaming across consoles, computers and mobile devices.

The new store will be part of Microsoft’s Xbox brand which should give us an idea of the kinds of apps we can expect to be downloading — games, games, and more games.