Register and Manage Account announcements

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  Windows Phone 8.0 Device Unlocks
  Donielle S.-MSFT Thursday, May 14, 2015 5:16 PM

  Starting today, no Windows Phone 8.0 device will be able to be developer unlocked.  You have three options to continue testing Windows Phone 8.0 packages:

  -       - updating the phone to Windows Phone 8.1 and unlocking it for developer testing

  -       -  submitting the apps as beta through the Windows Dev Center and testing in Windows Phone 8.0 devices, or

  -       -  testing your Windows Phone 8.0 apps via the Windows Phone emulator.

   

  Any Windows Phone 8.0 device currently unlocked will continue to be unlocked and work as a test device until its certificate expires. 

  Note that this change has no impact on apps available in the Windows Phone Store, nor will it impact customers with Windows Phone 8.0 devices.

   

  Windows Store team

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  Unifying Developer Registration: Windows and Windows Phone
  Donielle S.-MSFT Wednesday, November 06, 2013 9:16 PM

  Over the last month, we’ve brought the Windows Store and the Windows Phone Store together into a single marketing and operations team to deliver a better experience for developers, end users and partners. Our focus remains to improve the way we help you reach new users and better monetize your apps, all while reducing friction and cost. Today we are making a set of changes that will simplify doing business with us. 

  I’m pleased to announce a unified registration experience for both Windows Store and Windows Phone developers, available at a lower cost. As a result of these changes, Windows Store developers are now also Windows Phone developers, and Windows Phone developers are also Windows Store developers. Welcome all! 

  Here’s what you can expect: 

  • Registered Windows Store developers can now submit apps to the Windows Phone Store, using the same Microsoft account.
  • Registered Windows Phone developers can now submit apps to the Windows Store at no additional cost, using the same Microsoft account.
  • New developers can register and existing developers can renew their account using the same Microsoft account. Developers will enter registration information just once and pay a single lower price of $19 for an Individual and $99 for a Company account, providing access to publish
    apps for both Windows and Windows Phone users.
  • Developers already registered with both Windows Store and Windows Phone using the same Microsoft account will receive a code via email this month, valid for a free one-year
    renewal when their existing registration is up for renewal.
  • Students continue to be supported through the DreamSpark program.

  You will continue to use the separate Windows Store and Windows Phone Dev Center Dashboards to submit and manage your apps. You can expect some differences in the steps you take to renew your account. The most notable for some of our Windows Phone developers is the addition of a credit card to validate all new account and renewals. You can read more about today’s changes on the Windows and Windows Phone Dev Centers. 

  Publish your app for both Windows Store and Windows Phone and earn prizes

  With the holiday selling season approaching, this is an ideal time to tune-up and publish your apps for both Windows and Windows Phone to help increase your downloads and revenue. Last year holiday sales of paid apps grew 40% over baseline, and we expect an even more robust Holiday 2013 due to an even larger base of Windows and Windows Phone users with more ways to pay for apps. 

  As an added incentive, we’ve partnered with Nokia via the DVLUP community to give you an easy way to learn more and complete challenges as you develop for both the Windows Store and Windows Phone. Along the way, you’ll earn points that can then be redeemed for great prizes (for example, Nokia Lumia phones and more).  DVLUP is currently open to developers in more than 20 countries. To participate, register for the DVLUP program and take advantage of the two new challenges available today: 

  Publish a new app for Windows Phone 8, or port an existing Windows Store app
  or
  Bring your Windows Phone app to Windows 8.1

  I’m hopeful that the steps we’ve taken will encourage you to publish your apps for both Windows and Windows Phone users around the world. I’ll share more in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned.

  Quoted from Todd Brix on the 'Windows Phone Developer Blog'( http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/2013/11/06/unifying-developer-registration-windows-and-windows-phone.aspx)
  

Submitting and Publishing Apps announcements

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  Update: Windows Store price tier value updates complete
  Marisa [MSFT] Thursday, April 16, 2015 9:28 PM

  The price tier value updates for Windows Store are now complete.  We recommend that you review the updated prices for your paid apps and in-app products.  You can make any desired price changes in Dev Center.

  For additional information on pricing:

  •	Windows Store: Accounts types, locations, and fees
  •	Windows Phone Store: Define market pricing and selection

• Link
  Update: Windows Store price tier value updates begin today (April 13)
  Marisa [MSFT] Monday, April 13, 2015 8:59 PM

  The price tier value updates for Windows Store are underway and all paid items will be updated over the course of this week.  The initial maintenance was shorter than expected and app ingestion is operational again. 

  You can see the updated prices reflected in Windows Phone Dev Center now.  We will confirm when updated prices are also available in Windows Dev Center. 

  For additional information on pricing:

  •	Windows Store: Accounts types, locations, and fees
  •	Windows Phone Store: Define market pricing and selection

• Link
  Reminder: Windows Store price tier value updates begin Monday, April 13
  Marisa [MSFT] Friday, April 10, 2015 5:19 PM

  Further to the email sent to all developers on March 20, 2015, a reminder that next Monday (April 13) the 96 Windows Store price tiers will be updated with new values.  These price tier values are updated periodically to maintain consistency across currencies, accounting for changes in foreign exchange rates, taxes, and other geographic pricing considerations.  With this update, the US Dollar (USD) price in each tier will remain the same, with the prices in all other currencies adjusted relative to the USD price. 

  Here is an example of a price update for a paid app published in the United States and China:

  Before update                  After update

  Product Price in     US Dollars (USD)         Equivalent Product     Price in Chinese Yuan (CNY)                   Product Price in     US Dollars (USD)         Equivalent Product     Price in Chinese Yuan (CNY)         2.99 USD         18     CNY                   2.99 USD         18.50     CNY

  The price tier value changes will take place automatically, there is no action required on your part.  After April 13, the price tier values will be updated in Dev Center, and all paid items in the Store will be updated over the course of the week.  We recommend that you review the updated prices for your paid apps and in-app products in Dev Center after April 13 and make any desired changes.

  To support the updates on April 13, app ingestion will be stopped from approximately 11AM to 3PM Pacific Time.  During this time newly published apps and apps updates will be queued.  App ingestion will resume immediately following this maintenance window. 

  For additional information on pricing:

  •	Windows Store: Accounts types, locations, and fees
  •	Windows Phone Store: Define market pricing and selection

• Link
  Windows Phone Store Badge- Get More Exposure for your App!
  Jo T Smith Friday, February 01, 2013 6:20 PM

  Hello all,

  You can now display a badge to let your customers know that your Windows Phone app is available in the Windows Phone Store! 

  Use this link to get all the details and download the Windows Phone Store badge. 

  The Windows Phone Store badge is intended to provide a clear way to communicate the availability of your app on the Windows Phone Store. The badge can be used in your print or digital media, and is made available in a number of colors, sizes, and digital formats. The following shows some examples of the badge.

  

  

Windows App Studio Beta announcements

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  Certificate sideload problem now resolved
  Windows App Studio Support Team Tuesday, November 11, 2014 3:23 PM

  Hello everyone,
  
  First we would like to apologize for the inconvenience that the failing cert has caused for any of you.
  
  Next, We would like to let you know that the problem is now resolved. We had loaded the wrong cert into the latest site revision, which is now fixed.
  Please go ahead and load the cert again, and it will now allow you to properly load it as well as your app package.
  
  Again we are very sorry for the inconvenience.
  
  The App Studio Team
• Link
  Sideload error using the Installable Package
  Windows App Studio Support Team Tuesday, November 11, 2014 4:33 AM

  When attempting to sideload Windows App Studio Beta apps using the Installable Package, some devices are returning a "Can't Install Company App" error.  We are investigating and will resolve the error shortly.  In the meantime, you can sideload Publish Packages using the Windows Phone SDK deployment tool.
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  Certification Guidance for Windows Phone App Studio built apps that hope to publish in Windows Phone Store
  ArisDadsApps Wednesday, October 16, 2013 5:45 PM

  Making the move to the Windows Phone Store?

  Now that you've used App Studio to jump start building your killer app, are you ready to launch it to the world on the Windows Phone Store? Before you go, make sure you've scrubbed out any leftover template items.

  If your app uses template images or titles, still has placeholder text (like [insert name here]) or uses template metadata (such as the icon, long description or keywords), it won't meet app certification requirements. Use a template to learn how to do it, then change it into your app, and you'll be off to a good start on your way to the store.

  Here's a handy checklist of examples to remember.

  Use:

  • Your own titles
  • Your own iconography (app Logo, Pin to start tile)
  • Your own long description

  Don’t use:

  • Template placeholder text ([insert name here])
  • Template app content

  Have fun building your app in Windows Phone App Studio, and we'll see you in the Windows Phone Store!

• Link
  Video Tutorial on Windows Phone App Studio
  Windows App Studio Support Team Friday, September 20, 2013 10:10 PM

  Windows Phone MVP, Maciej Grabek (http://maciejgrabek.com), put together this great tutorial on Windows Phone App Studio.  Maciej, great work on this!

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBBkO3AtExQ

   
  

• Link
  How create a screenshot so you are ready to publish.... (without opening the SDK)
  ArisDadsApps Thursday, August 01, 2013 11:20 PM

  To publish your app on Windows Phone Store and share it with the world, you need three things:

  A) Your signed .XAP file (created for you in Windows Phone App Studio after you've generated your app by Download Publish Package)

  B) Your app tile in 300x300 PNG format (same one you already created as your 'app icon' in the 'describe your app section of Windows Phone App Studio)

  C) At least one screenshot in 768X1280 PNG format (this is not created automatically, so here you go. You can create this in many methods, but this is one way to do it without opening visual studio)

       1) Install your app on your device by scanning the QR code generated in Windows Phone App Studio.

       2) Launch your app and take a few screenshots of the app by pressing the Power button and the Start button.

       3) Find those screenshots in your "albums" under "screenshots" then save to your SkyDrive.

       4) Download from Skydrive and open with Paint. 

       5) In Paint resize (under Home) to 768X1280 pixels if needed

       6) When you are ready publish in Dev Center and you have to "upload images", just use WXGA option and check "Automatically create lower resolution screenshots from WXGA"

  You can also do this using the emulator or the snipping tool.  Check it out at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/gg442300(v=vs.105).aspx.

  Now, you are ready to publish at https://dev.windowsphone.com/publish

  Community, please reply if you have a better way to do this.  I'm all ears!

Dev Center App announcements

• Link
  Dev Center App Update!
  Arvind Ladha Friday, March 01, 2013 7:55 PM

  Thank you for all the feedback regarding the new Dev Center App!  

  We released an update (version 1.1.1302.26 published on Feb 28, 2013) to fix these issues:

  -  App would fail if the background agent was turned off

  -  App would show an incorrect notification “update required”

  - UI graphic improvements

  IMPORTANT: This app requires a Windows Phone Dev Center active account and won’t work without one.

  Please take a minute to download the update. Please send us feedback either by email and this forum.