Windows Phone will continue its slow march to death through 2019

The shambling corpse of Windows Phone will keep stumbling on.

Gordon Gottsegen CNET contributor

Gordon Gottsegen is a tech writer who has experience working at publications like Wired. He loves testing out new gadgets and complaining about them. He is the ghost of all failed Kickstarters.

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Gordon Gottsegen

Aug. 20, 2018 1:03 p.m. PT

windows-10-phone-still — The sparsely used OS is fading to antiquity.
CNET

Goodbye Windows Phone. It's almost too painful to watch you go.

Last year Microsoft admitted that it was no longer releasing new hardware and features for its Windows Phone OS. With that death sentence, Microsoft has been slowly leading Windows Phone to its demise.

On Monday, Microsoft announced that it'll stop accepting new app submissions for Windows Phone 8.x or earlier on Oct. 31, 2018. Then on July 1, 2019 Microsoft will stop distributing app updates to Windows Phone 8.x or earlier devices.

Microsoft says it'll continue making updates available to Windows 10 devices, but it doesn't mention Windows 10 Mobile -- the version of Windows 10 built for Windows Phones.

With no new apps or updates, another nail is hammered into Windows Phone's coffin.

Watch this: RIP Windows Phone: Microsoft admits Windows 10 Mobile is dead

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Windows Phone is estimated to have held 3.9 percent of the smartphone global marketshare in its heyday of 2013. Although that sounds measly, it put it in third place behind Android (75.9 percent) and iOS (16.9 percent). With Windows Phone gone, Android and iOS are basically the only two options left.

Miss your old Windows Phone? You can check out CNET's guide to the best apps and phones to fill the Windows Phone void.