Windows Phone Store was a digital distribution platform developed by Microsoft for the Windows Phone. It allowed publishers to release apps which could be downloaded to users smartphones.
The app store was initially launched as Windows Phone Marketplace alongside Windows Phone 7 in October 2010. With the rollout of Windows Phone 7.5, Microsoft unveiled the Marketplace, which offered over-the-air installation of apps. In August 2012, Microsoft renamed the Marketplace to Windows Phone Store. In July 2015, the Windows Phone Store was replaced by the Windows Store, which would act as a unified solution for all Windows-powered devices. This process was complemented by the Apps on Windows website, an interim solution before the unified Windows Store. The Windows Phone Store shut down for Windows Phone 8.1 systems on December 16, 2019.
