Khan Academy has been struggling with their funds recently, and it was just a matter of time before they would start cutting costs. One of the things that have to go is the Windows 8 app. It will be available for a few days more, and will continue to work if you download it now, but if you install it or don’t download it at all, you will be forced to use the website.
The post announcing this change was posted a few days ago and reveals that the app will be removed because of the small user base. There are very few people that would prefer an underpowered and outdated app over the website so this isn’t really surprising. The post follows:
Heads up that the Khan Academy app for Windows devices will be removed from the app store in early October. If you have the app downloaded to your device, you’ll still be able to use it after this happens, but if you delete it you won’t be able to add it again.
We don’t currently have the resources to guarantee a high quality experience in this product, especially given its small user base, so the decision was made to sunset the app rather than extend a promise of a high-quality learning experience that couldn’t actually be delivered on.
That said, if you have any additional thoughts or reactions on this, please let us know here.
The app still has huge potential as a universal Windows 10 app and could be updated with features like Windows Ink and other productivity-oriented features. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the case.
A lot of students use Microsoft Surface’s nowadays and that could be an opportunity to update and maintain the app with the focus towards those people. Most Khan Academy users didn’t even know there was an app. Some mistakes made by the team and the low demand, unfortunately, resulted in the death of yet another app.
Thanks to Roger for the tip!
