Back in December, Urbanspoon removed their app from the Windows Phone app store. Part of a growing and disturbing trend, it had appeared that the famous restaurant finder app had seen its last days on Windows Phone. Urbanspoon was a rather nicely designed app, but the last update from the company was back in 2012, so Windows Phone support had already withered.
For better or worse, Urbanspoon was acquired by Zomato just a few weeks ago for a reported $50 million. Interestingly, Zomato not only has a Windows Phone app but a highly-rated one as well (and it looks like they will have a Windows 8.1 app on the way).
Now, in an email correspondence, Urbanspoon notes that yes, they ended support for Windows Phone. However, under Zomato, the companies will combine to release a new (or at least updated) app for the Microsoft ecosystems:
"We pulled the app from the app store in December because we weren't going to support Windows anymore; however, Urbanspoon was recently acquired by Zomato.com. Once our companies are integrated, we will have a new Windows app. It may be a couple of months before that happens."
Currently, Zomato is in 19 different countries, including United Kingdom, India, Brazil, the UAE, New Zealand and more. However, they have no presence in the United States, which is why they bought Urbanspoon. Urbanspoon's massive US presence is also likely why they abandoned their app, as US market share is low for Windows Phone.
Urbanspoon abandoning their app and then pulling it was just another example of an ongoing problem with Windows Phone heading into 2015. Luckily, in this case, Zomato is coming to the rescue. It remains to be seen if Windows 10 and its one app, one OS strategy can save Microsoft. For now, we are worried that this may be a sign of a rough six months for Windows Phone users.
Thanks, Salah N., for the tip and email!
