Windows Store axes 1,500 fake apps - accounting for 0.5% of library
Microsoft has removed over 1,500 apps from the Windows Store in a bid to rid the marketplace of misleading and counterfeit apps.
The Windows store is accessible from PCs, tablets and mobiles
The rapidly growing store has been accused of hosting dubious products, including replica browsers and flawed anti-virus products, with some shadier developers even charging users for usually free products.
As a result, Microsoft has removed 0.5 per cent of its new 300,000 app-strong Windows Store library, after revising its store's terms and conditions.
Apps will now have to be named “clearly and accurately to reflect their functionality".
They will also have to be accurately listed on the site “according to the app function and purpose". Finally to cut out misleading copycats, apps will not be allowed to use icons and branding too similar to other programs.
Microsoft removed 1,500 apps that did not comply with the new rules and users who purchased the now removed products were fully refunded.
In a blog, Microsoft, said: “These revised policies are being applied to all new app submissions and existing app updates for both the Windows and Windows Phone Store. We’ve also been working on titles already in the catalog, conducting a review of Windows Store to identify titles that do not comply with our modified certification requirements.
“This process is continuing as we work to be as thorough and transparent as possible in our review. Most of the developers behind apps that are found to violate our policies have good intentions and agree to make the necessary changes when notified.”
The Windows developer will have to continue its work against sub-par apps if it plans on competing with Apple and Android in the UK - having just replaced Blackberry as the nation’s third most popular mobile platform.
Yesterday, the British Standards Institution’s (BSI) announced a new kitemark for apps making online transactions to restore consumer trust in brands.