What happens when a developer updates an app? Does the user that updates the said app download a whole new app or is the windows app store smart enough like play store to just download the changes?Can anyone give logical explanation how it works in windows store?
>>Does the user that updates the said app download a whole new app or is the windows app store smart enough like play store to just download the changes?
When the developers created package for their project, and chose generate app bundle always, the user can download faster with an app bundle, because they only download the assets that they need. Then they don’t need to download a whole new app to update. If the developers didn’t choose this, the user may need to download a whole new app.
>>Can anyone give logical explanation how it works in windows store?
For example, if you create a app, then you choose generate app bundle always when packaging your app and publish this in the Windows Store. The customer need to download 100MB to require this app. After a period of time, you update this app, the customer just download the assets that they need to update our app, maybe just download 10MB.
Related
I will attempt to be clear. Well, in the old web store of Windows Phone 8 before I could download manually any app or game, via the link: "Download and install manually" as you can see
in this image It is a feature that was lost with the arrival of the new store of Windows 10.
Ok. Now, in the following video Download and Install Apps (XAP/APPX Files) on WP8.1 via PC you can see at time t=53 sec, appears at bottom of page the link http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/vimeo/the App ID/xap?apptype=regular
After the user clicks on 'Download and install manually' a popup box appears. Now you can see inside the pop-up box that the downloading of the app is downloaded from: http://cdn.marketplacecontent.windowsphone.com
But in fact the complete address follows this format:
http://cdn.marketplacecontent.windowsphone.com/public/the App ID?downloadname=name of the app.type of file(xap, appx or appxbundle)
For example, this is the direction of the game Tentacles: Enter the Mind from the Microsoft CDN server:
http://cdn.marketplacecontent.windowsphone.com/public/8915ee7c-c55d-4e8f-a0b6-f80497e6f26e?downloadname=tentacles-enter-the-mind.xap
As you just seen, the old web store of Windows Phone 8 could download apps and games from the Microsoft CDN server. Even with the new store Windows 10 you can still download apps from Microsoft CDN. There are website that somehow can download apps and games from the Microsoft CDN server such as: www.appx4fun.com www.windowscommunity.in and www.winphonehub.org to mention some.
Based upon everything I said, you have any idea of how to I can access the Microsoft CDN server to download apps without resorting to third-party stores? I would like to know how they do it.
NOTE: All apps can be downloaded manually using this address:http://cdn.marketplacecontent.windowsphone.com/public/the App ID?downloadname=name of the app.type of file(xap, appx or appxbundle)but for it to work you need to know the ID of the app you want to download and the type of file. How can I find the ID of the app? Know the ID is a very important information!
Well, that's all. I hope your answer
Regards.
Is it possible to submit a new app or update an existing app to Windows Phone store with any automate process instead of uploading it manually?
Please suggest the solutions for the same.
I found few automated tools for ios application submission like fastlane
Not possible at the moment and no indication about such feature coming.
There may be such functionality soon.
From https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2016/03/31/announcing-new-dev-center-capabilities-to-increase-app-revenue-and-streamline-management/:
The new Windows Store submission API will be made available in
preview, beginning today and rolling out in waves. This new API offers
a subset of functionality provided by Dev Center as a REST API and
supports these actions for published apps: submitting updates,
modifying metadata, and adding/removing in-app products. You can
request access to the preview through the “Feedback” tab in Dev Center
by selecting “Submission API” in the “Suggestions” tab. Access will be
granted in waves, beginning with a small group of developers. Build
session: https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2016/B839
My requirement is to associate a .exe file with a Windows Store 8.1 app. Is it acceptable to give a link through about section of the store app to a web address from where the user can download the .exe file. Will there be any problem with the certification process. Please suggest any suitable alternative if possible.
There is nothing in the Windows Store Policies that says otherwise. You can't attempt to run the *.exe file programmatically of course, but you should be fine otherwise.
Since the app is network-capable, remember to add a Privacy Policy (see here) detailing whether any user information is sent to an external website/server.
Is there an API that allows to me to programmatically pull the latest update from the store and refresh the current version that the user is using? If not, is it possible for the current app to programmatically know that there is a new version available?
Any samples/examples would be highly appreciated.
You can't programmatically install any Store software. But you can programmatically open the Store to let it do the user manually.
That said, there's no official Store API which you could ask about app versions (you might be able to parse the Store's HTML pages, but I recommend against this approach).
What you can do: Put a small XML file on your website which contains the latest app version number. Your app then can read this file and compare this desired version against the running app's version. If the app is outdated, the app can show a message box to the user.
I ended up using WNS and Azure Notification Hub to send a push notification to the app when it is launched. The notification is in the form of a toast message that essentially states that a new release is available. But if you updated/downloaded the app after xx/xx/xxxx, no updates are necessary.
I know it is a little cludgy but at least the users now know that the version of the app that they are using may be dated. I control the notification through Azure Mobile Service (which is free for up to 10 apps) and can fully modify the actual script.
I am a newbie in Windows Store Apps development. I have created an app which has some In-App purchase modules. I am testing this with locally created WindowsStoreProxy.xml file, However to test in app purchases, I updated this xml manually and added these modules in ListingInformation and LicenseInformation tags. If I don't do this my app throws KeyNotFoundException which is usual. Now my issue is, after submitting the app to the app store how will testers test these in-app purchases? Its very serious, because It may cause to App Rejection. Please suggest.
On the Store dashboard, you'll fill out the in-app purchase details before you submit. All that info will then be in the Store database when the testers get your app.
To be specific, when uploading your app you'll take whatever information you've been using from WindowsStoreProxy.xml and paste it into the app description page. If you want to see what this looks like, go ahead and create an app package now, and then upload to the dashboard. This will then allow you do go to the description page where you can see what will be required. Just make sure to upload a new package before you complete the submission.
Also be sure to change CurrentAppSimulator to CurrentApp (you'll fail cert quickly if you forget).