On deaktops, neither windows nor dlinux do not behave differently depending on developer's name. I see no reason why mobile devices should be any different. I wonder if there are grounds for anti-monopoly lawsuits.
Windows absolutely does: it has a large collection of various hacks in place to detect specific applications to keep the running across newer versions of Windows. This is neat in a technical sense, but you’ve gotta be on Microsoft’s radar and worth it for them to put that sort of effort in for you.
On top of that, the partner support you used to get from Microsoft if you were a developer they cared about was orders of magnitude more helpful and useful than what you’d get if you weren’t a preferred partner.
I mean, if the apps is built for current windows, it runs and has all access to all APIs the system has for apps. So apps like Transmission will load after startup and will be seeding torrents in the background, you don't have to be on some special list to do that.
