The new Windows 10 Netflix app
The new Windows 10 Netflix app

One of the defining features of Windows 10 is its ability to run pretty much anywhere, from powerful desktops to the Internet of Things. But that doesn’t necessarily doesn’t mean its apps will be functional on every device. That’s why Microsoft created the Universal Windows Platform (UWP), which lets developers use one set of code for all devices running Windows 10.

Still, creating those UWP apps isn’t as easy as just changing a few lines of code; for existing apps, a lot of work goes into rewriting code that combines functionality from mobile and desktop apps into one new app. That may be why we didn’t see many great apps on the Windows 10 app store, even a month after the official launch of Windows 10.

The browsing experience looks nearly identical to the Xbox One app
The browsing experience looks nearly identical to the Xbox One app

With Windows 10 soon coming to phones, developers are finally starting to reconfigure apps with UWP in mind. Today, Netflix announced a completely overhauled app for Windows 10. The app includes updates that bring the app more inline with what users see in the browser-based video streaming app, as well as mobile and streaming media player apps.

But the real changes are again under the hood. Netflix ditched their app built on Silverlight, XAML, C# and other technologies for a Javascript-based app that allows them to use the same HTML5 video playback engine used in the browser.

The app has some unique Windows 10 features, like Cortana control and live tiles, but now it more closely matches the Netflix experience found elsewhere.

Netflix joins Twitter, Pandora, Box and Uber in the growing selection of universal Windows 10 apps, but we’ll likely see more as Windows 10 adoption grows. Along with the launch of the Netflix app, Microsoft announced that the Windows 10 app store has seen more than 2.5 billion visits since launching.

The store mimics Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store, but covers nearly all media, from apps and games to music and movies. Just like those stores, Microsoft wants to use its virtual storefront as a gateway for people to get more enthralled with their devices.

As part of Microsoft’s holiday sales, the store held a 10-cent Black Friday promotion, which drew in plenty of new users. In fact, 75 percent of customers during that promotion were first-time visitors to the store, and there was a 29X increase in paid app purchases.

With Windows 10 not even running on phones yet, many developers may not see a need to update working Windows apps. But as Windows 10 expands and these store visit numbers grow, developers may see more reason to build apps using UWP and put them on the app store.

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