It is what happens on Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store. Apps for all devices (tablets and smartphones) are available on the same app store but can only be downloaded by their respective devices. A tablet can download phone apps and scale them to fit well but a phone cannot access tablet-specific apps. That has always worked and if what The Verge is reporting today is anything to go by, the same is on the way to Microsoft’s Windows platform. Microsoft is said to be in the process of unifying its two separate app stores.
In the plan, the Windows Store and the Windows Phone Store will be merged into one app store. Tablets like Microsoft’s Surface RT and such other tablets that require apps from the Windows Store will still be able to access tablet apps while Windows Phone devices like the Lumia 920 will also be able to access phone apps.
How soon will we see the unified Windows app store? Since it is yet to be confirmed, reports indicate that they’ll roll out with the Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 update.