Microsoft Corp. has removed all third party Snapchat apps from the Windows Phone Store after Snapchat Inc. previously announced that it was cracking down on them to increase security.

The removal of apps, including the popular 6snap according to Windows Central, leaves Windows Phone users without an alternative; Snapchat does not currently offer an official client for the platform.

The developer behind 6snap Rudy Huyn confirmed the news on Twitter, saying that he would “work closely with Microsoft now to convince Snapchat to change its mind.”

In November Snapchat said in a blog post that they were improving the security and reliability of the service following a much publicized leak earlier in the year.

“Unfortunately, some developers build services that trick Snapchatters and compromise their accounts” the company said.

Snapchat made no indication at the time that it was targeting third party apps directly, stating instead that it would target users who where using such apps. Today’s move by Microsoft may indicate that Snapchat has gone further than simply targeting users and has gone to the distribution points of the third party software they don’t want users using.

As of November 21st the crackdown did not extend to the Google Play store, where a variety of third party Snapchat apps remain available.

The move to remove Snapchat third party apps is an interesting one for Microsoft at a time it is intentionally releasing phones targeted at the youth market; the Windows Phone Store already struggles in providing apps that compete with the offerings from both Apple and Google, and now it no longer provides access to a chat service that is wildly popular among younger users.