App selection is a hot topic when it comes to Windows Phone, with Microsoft revealing earlier this year that its platform is now home to 120,000 apps. With 2012 winding down, the Redmond firm took the time today to give us another update on Windows Phone's app situation, including the number of apps that've been added this year. Microsoft says that 2012 saw over 75,000 new apps get published to the Windows Phone Store, which has resulted in a doubling of the platform's catalog size. There have also been more than 300,000 app updates released.
When it comes to customers and their app downloads, Microsoft says that the average Windows Phone user has downloaded 54 apps to their device. The company also claims that Live Apps that display information on a user's lock screen are big with customers, as 85 percent of Windows Phone 8 folk have said that they'd choose a piece of software with Live Apps support over one without.
With the release of Windows Phone 8 and the doubling of its app catalog, it looks like 2012 was a big year for Microsoft's mobile platform. Looking forward, Microsoft is planning to bring some of the more popular apps in mobile to Windows Phone, with the firm saying that 46 of the top 50 apps are coming soon. One example is Pandora, which will be hitting Windows Phone in 2012. Getting those well-known apps will be important to helping Windows Phone grow in 2013, and it'll be interesting to see exactly which apps do make their way to Windows Phone and how quickly we start seeing apps like Pandora on the platform. Does Windows Phone's growing app store and the promise of incoming big name apps have any of you non-Windows Phone users considering a switch?
