Windows Phone Store boosted by 75,000 new apps in 2012 300,000 app updates also published

Can we finally put to bed the old adage about Windows Phone not having enough apps? Microsoft thinks so after adding 75,000 new apps to its store in 2012.

In a post on the Windows Phone developers' blog, the company said it had scrutinised and published enough apps to double the pre-existing catalogue during this calendar year.

Microsoft said that it had also published 300,000 updates to existing apps, pointing out that Windows Phone users can now rely on having the latest, safest versions of the software faster than before.

Microsoft revealed that, on average, Windows Phone customers are downloading 54 apps to their handsets, aided by the improved catalogue and new Windows Phone Storeshopping experience.

Live Tiles apps preferable

"Over the last year we've made a lot of discovery enhancements including Bing-powered search and smart lists, as well as new collections and recommendations for Windows Phone 8 customers," wrote Todd Brix, senior director of the Windows Phone app team.

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Brix also mentioned that 85 per cent of Windows Phone users preferred applications with functioning Live Tiles, which bring information directly to the Start Screen, than those without.

This, or course, would make perfect sense as the presence of Live Tiles is perhaps Windows Phone's most convincing selling point, especially with their new, customisable sizes in Windows Phone 8