Microsoft announced today that it is preparing to take a more "robust" approach to its certification policy for Windows Store apps. Specifically, it looks like Microsoft is taking a more hardened approach towards filtering out clone apps from both the Windows Store and the Windows Phone Store.
In its blog post, Microsoft outlines four areas on which it will focus:
- Eliminating app clutter
- Ensuring apps are appropriately priced
- Distinguishing informational apps
- Ensuring relevant app titles and keywords
In other words, Microsoft is putting forth a more concerted effort to eliminate imitation apps that users may be tricked into downloading because the icon, description, and tags are deceptively similar to more popular apps of the same genre.
The issue of imitation apps has been ongoing in the Windows Phone Store for a long while now, as is well documented on our own forums. For example, if you do a quick search for Crossy Road on the Windows Phone Store right now, a number of other games that are simply rip-offs of the original come up (even one app that doesn't even try to hide it). The fact that Microsoft is taking this seriously, and is pushing forward with stricter certification policies to protect developers is great news.
We'll have to wait and see how this shapes up, but if you'd like to check out the specific steps Microsoft is taking in much more detail, you can read the company's full blog post from the source link below.
Source: Microsoft