Bank of America App Returns to Windows 10 for PC and Mobile Devices

There have been many instances over the last couple of years of big name companies announcing their intent to drop support for their app on Windows mobile devices.

From a business perspective these were sound decisions because the mobile Windows world was already in decline and things were not looking good at all on the horizon.

When these decisions are viewed by the fan base - well the reaction is very, very different.

Once such circumstance that caused a great amount of teeth grinding and consternation happened in January 2015 when Bank of America inserted a little note into their app listing for the Windows Store. That note informed users that the mobile app and all support for it would be pulled in March 2015 and that happened exactly as planned.

At that time, Bank of America gave no indication of any plans to return to the Windows ecosystem in the future. In fact, they did not provide any reasons why they were leaving either. Cue the frustrated Windows mobile users once again.

Fast forward to June 2016 and this week we now have not only a brand new and fully redesigned Bank of America Windows 10 Mobile app that has been built to take advantage of features in Windows 10 but, because that app is a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app, users also have full Bank of America online banking functionality on their Windows 10 desktops and tablets.

Although Microsoft has shifted their focus recently away from mobile hardware, they continue to develop the Windows 10 operating system for mobile devices right alongside of Windows 10 for other screen sizes and devices.

This series of events with Bank of America now delivering a UWP app that is easily adjusted to take advantage of a wide range of screens from mobile to desktops is exactly the type of thing Microsoft wants to see from other companies. Taking advantage of the UWP means apps can be used on multiple Windows 10 devices including not only PCs and mobile but also HoloLens, Surface Hub and maybe some day Xbox One.

I am sure Microsoft would have preferred that Bank of America stayed put on the Windows mobile platform while this transition took place however, I have no reason to believe that it was Bank of America's plan to return to Windows mobile devices.

As I have said in the past, Windows 10 on the desktop, even if it is declining slightly, is much too big of an audience to just ignore.  Plus, even though all of this online banking can be done in a browser, users still like the idea of having an app for their platform because it means the company is thinking of them on some level.

Is it an overnight solution to the app gap - not by far - but the slow trickle of melting snow in the mountains does eventually reach the ocean.

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