Starbucks has indeed confirmed that it will be launching an app for Windows Phone, and presumably Windows 10 Mobile devices, in the U.S. soon. Its president and chief operating officer Kevin Johnson stated this week that the app should launch "within 30 to 45 days", which puts the app on target for a late April or early May release date.
Geekwire reports:
"[Our] team has been working in partnership with Microsoft and we are within 30 to 45 days of releasing a Windows Phone app," said Johnson, the former Microsoft executive, at Starbucks' shareholder meeting today."
No other details about the app were revealed, but it's possible we will learn more at Microsoft's Build 2016 developer conference in San Francisco next week. In the past, the Seattle-based Starbucks has been reluctant to release an app for U.S. users and the article even references a Windows Central forum post from June 2015, where a reader was told by a company customer service rep:
"We have continued to look at the Windows platform and listen to our customer's needs. As we grow and evolve our mobile applications, we seek to develop on the platforms where we see the greatest opportunity. At this time we will not support the Windows platform but will continue to evaluate it as the landscape evolves."
However, that attitude may have changed thanks to Johnson, who worked at Microsoft from 1992 to 2008, including some time as the president of its Windows and Online Services division. Johnson was named as president and COO of Starbucks in January 2015 and it's more than possible that his influence finally got the company to work with their Microsoft neighbors in Redmond on an official Windows Phone app.
