Windows Phone 8.1 and universal apps can now be submitted to the Dev Center

It was just this weekend that Microsoft unified pricing tiers to help brand universal apps easier, and today they've opened the floodgates to developers and are at present accepting Windows Telephone 8.ane and universal apps for review. Every bit a refresher, universal apps take reward of new frameworks in Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 to permit developers to build apps once and deploy them across both platforms.

The unification of apps across platforms was announced at Build 2022, just two weeks ago. And with today'south deployment of Windows Phone 8.1 Preview for Developers, Microsoft is now accepting apps written for the updated OS. Developers volition demand Visual Studio Update 2 RC to develop said apps.

They'll be able to use the Silverlight platform, or the Windows Runtime platform so they can reuse code beyond platforms. When deploying a new parcel that specifically targets a new version of Windows Phone, the Windows Telephone Store will now intelligently offering the advisable version to users depending on which platform they're running on.

Developers can at present link apps across the Windows Store and Windows Phone Store then users can buy an app once and have information technology installed everywhere. This even extends to in-app purchases — buy once, download and use everywhere. Notifications, too, are synced at present through Windows Button Notification Service.

As mentioned earlier, developers will no longer need a credit card to register an account and submit apps, and instead tin can exist paid via PayPal. Developers will besides be able reserve app names in the Windows Phone store for upward to 12 months before release (they've been able to practice this for some time in the Windows Shop). The Dev Center has besides been redesigned to make information technology easier to find the documentation that developers demand.

While that's a lot of updating, there'southward more than to come up — Microsoft has options for timed promotion pricing, pre-submission validation checks, and touch-device specific targeting on the way for developers. Windows viii.1 Update 1 and Windows Phone 8.1 have kickstarted the need for changes to the Dev Center and programmer tools, so it'south good to see that finally happening.

Source: Microsoft

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