Yahoo Confirms It Has No Plans To Update Flickr’s Windows Phone App

Yahoo has no current intention to update its Flickr application for Windows Phone. A user request for the company to both update its extant, but quite dated Windows Phone app, and perhaps build one for Windows 8 (another user requested a Windows 8.1 app separately) was met with a terse, if friendly response:

Thank you for this feedback. At this point, we are focusing our mobile development efforts on iPhone and Android apps. If this changes, we’ll let you know in the forum here.

Yahoo confirmed the decision with TechCrunch. The company provided a second short statement:

We can confirm that we currently have no plans to update our Flickr Windows Phone app. At times, we have to make tough decisions and prioritize our efforts. This change will allow us to spend more energy on improving our Flickr mobile experience.

Microsoft did not respond with comment in time for publication. (Update: Microsoft declined to comment.)

To sum, Yahoo is focusing its resources on the two largest smartphone platforms — iOS and Android — and is not pushing cash or hours toward Microsoft’s Windows Phone effort. To quote WMPowerUser, who brought the initial Yahoo response to our attention, “Yahoo released [a] Flickr app for Windows Phone devices back in [the] WP7 days. After a period of time, the app was never updated and Yahoo never showed any interest in revamping the app.”

Microsoft’s hard-fought, and earned position at number three in the smartphone game has brought the firm increasing mobile presence and credibility. Yet that doesn’t mean, as we can see here, that all players are now willing to spend to cater to its audience.

That Yahoo, a now purportedly mobile-first company would choose to avoid Windows Phone makes the decision all the more salty for Microsoft.

Yahoo itself took some razzing over the choice. Flickr users, in response to the company’s stated decision, lit the firm up. A sampling from the thread:

“I will be taking back all my photos now. sticking them in to skydrive until a proper upload service can be created for the 1020. one I can upload over the air.”

“Congratulations to Flikr, a service that is failing fast, in ignoring the fastest growing mobile platform and one that has some of the best mobile photography devices on the market.”

“yahoo has been buying out so many dev studios and you can’t afford to buy one that already has windows phone expertise? for shame.”

The only parties winning in this situation are Android and iOS users that are Flickr fans. Microsoft loses face and status, Windows Phone users have to do without, and Yahoo itself has irked a minority of its user base.

Image by Flickr user Vernon Chan under CC By 2.0 license (image has been cropped)Â