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On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Microsoft has confirmed that Facebook will stop its apps support on 30th April 2019 on Windows Mobile phones. The social giant is bidding farewell to its family of apps for Windows Phone, including Messenger, Instagram, and the original Facebook app. Windows Phone users will then have to resort to accessing Facebook or Instagram through their phone browser. The upcoming elimination was initially noticed during this weekend on Instagram and it was reported by Windows Central.
Windows Phone users on Reddit have indicated they received a notification that Instagram will pull its app on 30th April 2019. It is noteworthy that Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger are all among the top free apps in the Microsoft Store, but it’s not clear how many active users will be affected by this move. The departure of Facebook shouldn’t surprise many Windows Phone users. Microsoft announced in 2016 that the company is officially stopping its Windows Phone business following lackluster sales.
The announcement from Microsoft also halted issuing security and software updates in December 2018. Major third-party apps have been fleeing the Microsoft Store since 2015. But the few Windows Phone users left cling to their increasingly defunct devices with the gleefulness of a 30-years old still using their student ID for movie discounts. People who use a Windows Phone in 2019 do it for many different reasons. Some prefer their camera of the device to the latest offerings and others distrust Apple and Google’s track record with privacy. Some of them may prefer the underrated peace of owning a smartphone with fewer apps.
