The number of apps available for Windows Phone app has expanded to over 300,000, almost twice the number it had a year ago.

While its collection of apps still lags far behind Apples App Store and the Google Play Store for iOS and Android respectively, this growth in is still a victory for Microsoft, as the lack of apps has long been cited as one of the major issues holding back wider adoption of the Windows Phone.

The rate of growth is also accelerating, with 200,000 apps reported in December 2013, suggesting it increased its library by 50 per cent in under a year. The number of developers has increased similarly, and big-name apps like Instagram and Vine have been added. However, many of Windows Phones most popular apps are either Microsofts own software, or unofficial versions of missing apps like YouTube and SnapChat.

Windows Phone has struggled to make a dent in a market dominated by iPhone and Android. While it has shown good year on year growth, it still represents just a three per cent share of the global market, and is not growing fast enough to prove a serious challenge to either Apple or Google.

Earlier in the year, rumours circulated that Microsoft were seriously considering allowing Android apps to run on the Windows Phone platform to combat the lack of app availability. Whether the growth it has managed without such a move will stop such a drastic move remains to be seen.