That's what I suggested to them as well. If you're a developer or designer working on Windows Phone apps, there's usually a good chance you're also interested in Windows 8 apps too.
This author is blinded by what he actually does for a living: consulting on Apple products and writing, again, (mostly) on Apple-related topics. When you step outside of the Apple bubble, you quickly realize that there's a much, much bigger world out there and Apple is almost nowhere to be seen.
You're right, you got me. As I'd mentioned in my blog post, these aren't crucial apps to me and so I've been fine to just pin the mobile web version to my phone's start screen. I've since updated the article to include apps that I've previously used and enjoyed: ESPN ScoreCenter, ScoreMobile and Globe & Mail. All solid choices.
And by the way, IE 9 Mobile is pretty darned sweet, as is the desktop version.
I don't use much in the way of Google-branded apps, so that category of integration isn't important to me. I know for others, like yourself, it is and I recognize that gap.
There are plenty of junky iOS apps to prove otherwise. And it's not that Microsoft doesn't care about polish - the default, built-in Windows Phone apps are gorgeous and highly functional - but rather many of the app developers care more about quantity/speed to market rather than attention to detail.
I wrote my blog post because I believe, for the apps I use, there are good enough, or better, alternatives. That may not be the case for everybody, but it's sufficient for me.