Here at DailySocial we are very passionate about the mobile industry especially when it comes to the developer side and the viability of the ecosystem, so when we discovered even after Windows Phone 8 was launched that the Windows Phone Store for Indonesia was still deprived of many high profile apps, we expressed our opinion on the subject. This was a situation that needed to be addressed and one that affects developers and consumers alike. Shortly after, we received a response from Microsoft Indonesia regarding our concerns.
This is what Microsoft Indonesia had to say about the matter:
First, there is a content restriction that is abiding some countries where Windows Phone store is available. Microsoft Indonesia is abiding its country’s law by following the set of rules. This circumstances thus resulted into a “content certification” step undergone by Microsoft Corp to every applications that is submitted to Windows Phone Store. Several Twitter applications that are available such as Seesmic, Rowi and Tweetcaster have successfully went through that “content certification”.
As we mentioned in our article, we are fully aware of this content certification and restriction. On every other application store that is available officially in Indonesia, such as Apple’s App Store, Google Play Store, and Nokia Store, the equivalent apps are freely available. There is nothing stopping consumers using iOS, OS X, Android, or even Asha devices from downloading for example, the official Twitter app for their respective devices.
Second, we have not received confirmation whether the official Twitter apps have gone through the “content certification” process. We, of course, strive our best to ensure all the popular apps are available in Windows Phone 8 locally.
When high profile apps, not just Twitter, are not available to download through the Indonesian Windows Phone Store, regardless of the reason, but are available from Windows Phone Stores for other countries, it cripples the consumer experience of using Windows Phone and devalues what Microsoft corporate VP Joe Belfiore’s said last year.
It’s one thing not being able to download top apps at the local launch of Windows Phone 7, it’s another not being able to do it almost one whole year later for Windows Phone 8. Not everyone is willing to or even know that they can circumvent this issue by using another country’s store simply by changing their phone’s region.
What is also an important effort from Microsoft Indonesia is that we always try to create an environment and platform for innovation that provides for our partners and developers. Not only providing popular apps in our Store, we also encourage local developers to drive innovation by building successful applications from Indonesia on Windows 8 platform.
There is no doubt that local developers are interested in developing applications for Windows Phone. The participation level that we saw at every Nokia/Microsoft developer event for Windows Phone in Indonesia has always been off the charts. The reception for each event has been downright phenomenal and developer interest has been unprecedented.
The local developer scene has been churning out some great and useful apps such as the Blue Bird Taxi Reservation app by Armanovus, Tiket Kereta by Dycode, and dozens of apps by Radya Labs and Aksara Studios, but while locally oriented and relevant apps are certainly crucial for the success of Windows Phone in the Indonesian market, there is no denying that there are foreign services and networks that many Indonesians rely on and use on a regular basis such as IMDB, Vimeo, and WordPress.
When apps for high profile services are not available, it devalues Windows Phone and pushes consumers to avoid or leave the platform for a competing platform that do have those apps.
Sorry Microsoft, you may have tried your best but you need to try a bit better.
