Test windows phone 8.1 app update, after app is published once in store - windows-phone-8.1

I have build a windows phone 8.1 app, and i have published it in Windows Store.
Now i want to do an update, but before i want to test it in several devices. I created a package flight but it is only for windows os 10. How can i test in devices that have windows 8.1 os version?

When you publish application in Windows Store you can have a package for Windows 8.1 and for Windows 10. Even more - you can have multiple packages depend of build version.
When you fill the submission in Pricing and availability you can find option:
This way you can make it available for specific people

Related

Install XAP file locally in windows phone 8.1 device

Hope You are doing well.
Actually i have created one windows phone 8 application. So for testing i have installed the .xap file locally into windows phone 8 and it is working fine. But if i am going to install that .xap package in windows phone 8.1 or later it is not getting installed.
I have made research and found that the windows phone 8.1 and later OS version devices are accepting the APPX Package. They will not allow to install .XAP locally. Now the scenario is like that my client wants to test this application in windows phone 8.1 device.
So, Can anyone help me out that how can we install locally XAP package into windows phone 8.1 device?
Awaiting Response. Thanks in advance.
You can sideload your .xap package on Windows Phone 8.1 device using Windows Phone Application Deployment Tool (for 8.1).
Before installing , you need to ensure the device has been registered for development. You can use Windows Phone Developer Registration (8.1) to enable your device for development.
And you could search for the tool from the Windows 8.1 start menu.

Deploying Windows Phone 8.1 app to Windows 10 Mobile

I've been developing a Windows Phone 8.1 app using C#/XAML. My configuration is up-to-date Windows 8.1 PC + Visual Studio 2013.
I can test my app on WP 8.1 emulator that comes with VS2013, and also no problem deploying it on physical Windows 8.1 device.
However the app also runs on Windows 10 Mobile because the platform currently allows it that way. Which is good except, my app doesn't work as intended since the device got Windows 10 Mobile Anniversary Update.
I don't know if the problem is in Windows or in my app but that's not important here.
I need to create a hotfix for the issue. And here comes the question. Is there a way to deploy WP 8.1 app to Windows 10 Mobile without submitting it to the store first, without upgrading to Windows 10, and preferably without upgrading to VS2015?
UPDATE The reason I want to deploy WP 8.1 app to Windows 10 Mobile is to test if my patch fixes the issue manifests with Windows 10 Mobile. At the moment I don't understand where is the problem and keep submitting the fix attempts to the store is not ideal.
Thanks.
Is there a way to deploy WP 8.1 app to Windows 10 Mobile without submitting it to the store first, without upgrading to Windows 10, and preferably without upgrading to VS2015?
Yes, it is possible to deploy WP8.1 app to the Windows 10 Mobile without submitting it to store and without upgrading to Windows 10 and without upgrading to VS2015. But you need to make sure you have the Windows 10 Mobile device for you to test.
If the Windows 10 Mobile device is in your side, you can unlock the Windows 10 Mobile device and deploy your app to the Windows 10 Mobile device by using the USB with the same method that you deploy it to the Windows Phone 8.1 Mobile device.
Or you can try to sideload your app on the Windows 10 Mobile device without submitting it to the store by using the Application Deployment tool. For more information, please try to refer to this article:How to deploy Windows Phone 8.1 apps with the Application Deployment tool.

How to debug windows phone apps on windows tablet

Ok so I got windows 8.1 nextbook to test on. I created some basic browser app in visual studio running on virtual windows server 2012 r2. My main machine is windows 7. When I connect with USB cable nothing happens (who could have predicted that). I thought I could deploy my app on tablet and do a debug like that but haven't find a way to do it. Anybody here with experience in this scenario, I googled everywhere and the only thing I found is that documentation sucks
You cannot run a Windows Phone app on Windows. You need a Windows Phone or a Windows Phone emulator to run the Windows Phone app. To run on Windows you need to write a Windows Store app. Windows 8.1 on a tablet is the same as Windows 8.1 on a desktop or laptop computer.
In your case you'll probably need a physical Windows Phone since you are already running virtualized. The Windows Phone emulator is a Hyper-V image and is not supported nested in a Hyper-V guest OS.
If you write a Windows Universal app then the code will be mostly the same for the Windows and Windows Phone targets (the UI layer is usually different), so you can write and test the bulk of the app as a Windows Store app to run on your tablet and then recompile for Windows Phone.

Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 Over the air installation of apps

Is there a way to install signed applications over the air on the windows 8 and windows phone 8 platforms?
I'm looking for something similar to iOS wireless app distribution with its itms-services:// uri scheme. Basically, I want to direct users to a web page where they can download and install a signed application package on their device by clicking a link.
But it seems (from the information I gathered from the available documentation) that Microsoft allow app installation only by using the Windows Store, or by Sideloading (in the case of Windows RT, 8 Pro and 8 Entreprise) or by enrolling users phones for company app distribution (in the case of Windows Phone 8).
are these really the only methods available?
Thanks in advance.
For the Phone you could use the beta testing feature. It will not show in the store and only be available for users you have registered via their Microsoft account formerly Live ID. The app will run through certification and therefore will not be hosted on your own server.
For Windows 8.x you will still have to go the side loading route as there is currently no beta testing feature available.
HTH

An app exclusively for windows phone 7.1

I am creating two versions of an app - for Windows phone 7.1 users and another for Windows phone 8 users. Since all windows phone 7.1 apps work on windows phone 8, the Windows phone 8 user sees two version of the same app. How can I deploy the 7.1 app so that it remains exclusively available for Windows phone 7.1 users only? This will ensure that Windows phone 8 users will not see two versions of the app.
You should't publish two distinct apps. Publish only one application, and the devcenter allows you to publish a distinct version for Windows Phone 7.1 and 8. Each user will automatically get the appropriate version depending on which OS he's using.