Windows Phone developers can now download WP8 Update 3
If you are a developer of Windows Phone apps, you can update your Windows Phone 8 device to the announced OS update titled “Update 3” or “GDR 3” now.
Requirements are that you (a) have an active Windows Phone Dev Center account; OR (b) have an active App Studio account; OR (c) be running a registered developer device (‘dev unlocked’ phone)
Note that You CANNOT REVERT to a previous OS version once you have taken an update via this program.
The tool itself is very simple, allowing you to opt-in or -out of pre-releases of the Phone OS with one click.
The download is available here: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/preview-for-developers/178ac8a1-6519-4a0b-960c-038393741e96
Video Messaging now part of the Skype App on Windows Phone 8
Skype updated its Windows Phone 8 app today, adding video messaging.
This is another great way to keep in touch. Once you have updated the app, just open a conversation and tap + to create a new video. New to Skype? You can download the latest version of the app from the Windows Phone Store.
There’s more about the new update on the Skype Garage Blog today.
Microsoft PubCenter change requires developers to update their Ad Units.
Microsoft PubCenter has recently introduced targeting changes aimed at improving application/ad relevancy.
If you use PubCenter ads in your Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 apps, make sure to update your Ad Units to reflect the store category of the app that the ad unit is used in.
Three Required Steps:
1. Associate your Mobile ad unit to a specific Application via the pubCenter’s setup tab.
2. Select Category and Subcategory (when available) for each Mobile ad unit. Your selection should match the same categories you’ve selected in Windows Phone Dev Center.
3. Save, and repeat for each Mobile ad unit.
You will need to update all your existing Windows Phone Ad units by September 12st, to continue receiving ads. Ad units not updated by Sep 12, 2013, will stop serving ads.
More details can be found in the blog post in the Advertising Community Blog.
Any Developer can now unlock and register 1 Windows Phone to side-load up to 2 Apps for free.
This is amazing news! With the recent announcement of the beta of the new app development tool, the Windows Phone App Studio that can help you create your app without coding, we are now offering every developer the possibility to unlock and register 1 phone to side-load up to 2 apps. Registered developers with Dev Center accounts continue to have the option to unlock up to 3 phones and upload up to 10 apps on each.
This means that it is now possible to develop and deploy your own software for testing on real phone hardware without paying for a Windows Phone Dev Center account.
Want to develop your apps using the full development tools or edit the projects you have generated online with the Windows Phone App Studio? No problem! The full developer tools are free for download, just grab the “Windows Phone 8.0 SDK” from http://dev.windowsphone.com/en-us/downloadsdk
Only if you want to publish your app to the store however, you will need the full account. But thanks to the $19 “Summer Break” limited-time Dev Center registration offer (through August 26, 2013). With this offer, the annual Dev Center registration is just $19 (or equivalent local currency). See official terms for more details.
Halo: Spartan Assault in the Store for Windows 8, coming soon to Windows Phone 8
Halo: Spartan Assault is the first touch-optimized game set in the HALO universe. It plays on any Windows 8 system, but really shines on a tablet.
Even though the controls are touch-based and very easy to master, the game feels very dense and immerses the player in the Halo universe.
Set between the events of “Halo 3” and “Halo 4,” “Halo: Spartan Assault” is a new chapter of the award-winning “Halo” universe that explores the first missions of the Spartan Ops program and dives deeper into the backstory of Human-Covenant wars. Play through the eyes of either Commander Sarah Palmer or Spartan Davis stationed aboard the UNSC Infinity as they fight never-before-seen battles against Covenant forces.
Visit the official site for screenshots and gameplay videos.
Download Halo: Spartan Assault from the Windows 8 store. The soundtrack is available from Amazon.
Wemlin now available for Windows Phone 8
If you live in Switzerland and use the public transportation from Zürcher Verkehrsverbund, OSTWIND or LIECHTENSTEINmobil, this app will get you to where you have to go – easy and fast.
It has been developed by the cool crew at Netcetera and can be downloaded from http://www.windowsphone.com/de-ch/store/app/wemlin/5cad8cfa-8b54-4193-8448-b5613c7934f3
Testing Your Windows Phone 8 Apps Series.
The second part of the series on “Testing Your Windows Phone 8 Apps” has now been published on the Windows Phone Developer Blog. Testing your apps before releasing them to the store can make a huge difference. A small investment in the key areas described in this post can give your app better results in your market and help bypass common coding errors early in the development process.
Testing your Windows Phone app – Part 1 – Released May 1, 2013
- Beta testing
- Installation and launch
- Fast Application Switching (FAS) and tombstoning
- App navigation
- Launchers and choosers
- UI and layout
Testing your Windows Phone app – Part 2 – Released May 22, 2013
- Push notification
- Live Tiles
- Agents
- Media, audio, and video
- Geolocation
- Resource usage and performance
Mehdoh: New social media cool-kid on the Windows Phone block.
Mehdoh has been released for Windows Phone: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/mehdoh/150f3fc4-dc0d-4299-a8ba-069b70436ad7
and I must say it’s a darn cool social media app that supports multiple Twitter, SoundHound and Instagram accounts.
First impressions: It’s very fast, very flexible, handles notifications and the live tile great, including a do-not-disturb time you can set.
Double tap on the header of one of the pivot-lists to scroll to the top.
Coding4Fun Toolkit v2 http://coding4fun.codeplex.com released! New items and the start of Windows Store support! The same XAML / APIs will work against either platform.
The Coding4Fun toolkit is a set of API wrappers and XAML UI controls for building Windows 8 & Windows Phone apps. Keeping with a Coding4Fun tradition of making hard things simple, complex APIs are as simple as Start and Stop and controls all have a system-level polish to them. The new version’s target was to give same API/Control works against Windows Store and Windows Phone applications. Write once, deploy anywhere.
Download from http://coding4fun.codeplex.com/
I have used the toolkit myself for my Sphero Control app. http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=35cd9766-6888-4bfa-b515-13ed5fc9fed5
![clip_image002[4]](https://techpreacher.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/clip_image0024.gif "clip_image002[4]")
Varous Color Picker controls for Windows Phone 8 and for Windows 8.
Windows 8 & Windows Phone Cross Platform Development Resources
With development of apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 getting much closer but still not being the same, there are some good resources out there in regards to creating projects that share a maximum amount of code between the two platforms.
The cornerstone of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 cross platform development are portable class libraries and MVVM pattern that help separate UI and logic.
The main area on the topic on MSDN including articles and code samples is here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/jj714089(v=vs.105).aspx
There is also a section on the “Microsoft Virtual Academy” called “Building Apps for Windows Phone 8” https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/building-apps-for-windows-phone-8-jump-start that has a Module (#19) on this.
You can sign up to the Microsoft Virtual Academy for free using any Microsoft ID.
Furthermore, the following sessions on the topic were presented at the Build conference last fall in Seattle:
“How to Leverage your Code across WP8 and Windows 8”: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-043
Link provided by Stuart Lodge: “Create Cross-platform Apps using Portable Class Libraries”: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-004
Happy coding (and code reusing)!
Sascha Corti aka. TechPreacher 