Microsoft revises Bing suggestions for 3rd party apps, causes headaches for Windows Phone developer

One of the groovy features we like with Local Scout, the Bing service that shows you things to practice effectually your location, is the tie in with apps. For instance, when you get nether eat + drink and pull upwardly a restaurant you tin can scroll over to Apps to open up up the listing in a third party app like Foodspotting.

The ability to do that is quite useful as it saves you time in having to go to your favorite app and look up the aforementioned information. One change that came with Windows Phone 8 though has united states of america scratching our head, and it's affecting tertiary party apps, including Liquid Daffodil'south popular Add to Contacts app.

Add together to Contacts is an app that should exist built into the Bone but it is not. When you exercise a search for local business or identify to consume, y'all can't just add the info to your People Hub. It's particularly frustrating and a little odd that it has gone missing for so long. Liquid Daffodil fabricated Add together to Contacts to address that trouble, and as a standalone search app it works merely fine.

Simply the app is also supposed to tie into Bing/Local Scout so that when y'all discover an establishment, you can then open it up with Add to Contacts and instantly relieve the information to your People Hub. It's part of the Bing Suggestions option (Bing > Settings > Suggestions) and it can be toggled past users on or off. However, due to a logic change in Windows Phone 8 by Microsoft, Add to Contacts no longer shows up at that place, neutering its efficacy.

Prior to Windows Phone eight, this was the logic of how any app would be listed with Bing Suggestions:

Apps y'all had installed that practical to the selection, and then
Suggestions/recommendations on Apps based on ratings and context

This method ensured that your installed apps i.e. apps that you want to use on a regular basis take priority and are listed over the suggestions/recommendations. While that second category is especially important for app discovery, we tin can see why it should be placed beneath what is locally installed on your phone. After all, if you lot installed an app there is a expert adventure you lot desire information technology integrated into your Bing Searches and Suggestions.

With Windows Telephone eight though, this logic now appears every bit thus:

An App will only testify up in the Apps list in Local Scout IF it was highly rated and downloaded

In other words, any user installed apps that could do the job with the contact info will exist ignored unless they are very loftier contour.

It'southward a weird system because it gives an unfair advantage to prestigious apps like Nokia'due south HERE services or Foodspotting simply gives virtually no chance to small, third party apps like Add to Contacts (which is rated 4 out of 5 on the Store with negative remarks coming from a failure of this office). Considering of this, Liquid Daffodil has made the decision to pull the app shortly from the Windows Phone Shop. While it still works as a standalone search app without the integration into Bing, it's only about half effective for most users.

This of class is but one example but in reality it volition have an effect on whatever programmer on Windows Phone 8 who makes an app hoping to have it evidence in Bing Suggestions e.g. Super Contacts.

What'southward even more odd almost the "logic" backside Bing Suggestions is the inconsistency with apps that are presented e.1000. for one restaurant we are often seeing Seattlepi.com and Fandango, neither of which has anything to do with the establishment.

With Add to Contacts being yanked from the Store in the near time to come, user will have to find other means to add together new places to their People Hub. Hopefully Microsoft volition contrary its stance on this listing logic for suggested Apps in Bing search results because as of right now, information technology seems a fleck unfair to emergent developers.

Have y'all noticed any third party apps no longer showing under Bing App Suggestions? Let united states of america know.

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