Deploying Windows app directly to Surface without going through the store - windows-store-apps

I’ve built a windows app using Cordova and I want to deploy it privately on my Window Surface Pro.
I can deploy it for testing purposes with the developer certificate that is being generate automatically, but it’s only valid for 90 days. Is there a way to premaritally deploy apps on Surface Pro or at least extend the 90 days period?
Thanks

You want to go in Project -> Windows Store -> Create Application Packages
Then select "No" on the first page. You can leave everything else as it is and click next and create.
This will give you 2 files which you need to copy to your Windows Surface. Once this is done go look in the folder that was created and run the Powershell situated inside. Your application is now installed on your device
Go take a look here for more detailed informations

Related

How to make Windows 10 Store "forget" an app download for testing purposes?

I'm testing my Win32 app converted to UWP, so I'm new to the whole Windows 10 Store concept.
So far I was able to get my app certified & published in the store via a private link. Now I would like to download and test it, but there's an issue.
The first time someone sees the app it has the following options:
but once you get it, all you see is this:
and even if you log in under a different Microsoft account (on the same computer), or previously uninstall the app, you get this:
and "free trial" simply installs it w/o a trial in that case.
So my question is, how do I make Windows Store "forget" that I have this app?
If you have bought the app you can't undo that, but you can always create a new user who has never bought for the testing purpose.
EDIT: Windows Store is for real transactions and not for testing. If you want to test, you should have a custom build that uses CurrentAppSimulator instead of CurrentApp

Criteria for 'with Live Tile' sign in Store for Windows Phone Store app

In Windows Phone Store for Windows Phone 8.1 OS are applications with or without the with Live Tile sign under logo in app overview.
Which criteria must the application meet to be detected by Store as it supports Live Tile?
I know that the answer should be obvious – it must support Live Tile, but it is not as simple as it looks like. My app is not detected as it supports Live Tile.
It calls PushNotificationChannelManager.CreatePushNotificationChannelForApplicationAsync, uploads the PushNotificationChannel.Uri to the server and the server sends tile updates via WNS. The tile is regularly updated.
It contains all scales of all visual assets.
Contacted MSFT Support:
There is no explicit check. The flag is set during manual instigation
of the app in the publishing process.
As the app submission has been changed to publish your app immediately, this flag will only come up once your app is manually checked. That usually only happens some days after your app is published and only in rare cases for updates (or when somebody complains about your app).
Also: The tester has to notice that there is a live tile. If it comes through push or there is no data at the moment of testing or it requires a specific setup, that will just not be visible.
I recommend hinting your live tile in the certification notes field (under describe your package) to make sure the tester is informed that you have a live tile option.
Most probably the Store show the with Live Tile tag for Silverlight (XAP) apps but not for Store (Runtime) apps.

Run Windows Phone App in background without UI

I am developing a Windows phone 8 app that need to run only in background with UI. Is there any way I can run the app in the background, or without actually being open?
It depends upon what you want to do in the background. Generally speaking you can't implement something like a Windows service that will startup automatically when the phone is launched.
That said you can run your app in the background within given limitations. Check out MSDN for detailed information.
Why all these limitations you might ask yourself? It's to provide a good battery life to the user.
Edit:
For the periodic agent to start running the app must be started once. Further the agent must update a live tile (user must pin it to the start screen) or the app has to be once opened every 14 days.
Another option might be using push notifications to trigger an update..

How to make settings persist after uninstall on Windows Phone 8?

I need to make a certain setting stay on the device even when the app itself has been uninstalled. For iOS we are using user's keychain to store this information. Is it possible on WP8 somehow?
If you want to keep, let's say user settings after an app is uninstalled, I highly doubt that this is possible on Windows Phone. First of all it would create a lot of orphan files on the phone that you would not be able to get rid of. One of the services on Windows Phone is Package Manager. This manager is in charge of installing/uninstalling apps, keeping track of what is pinned to the start screen and other metadata about an app and any extensibility points like Share..., etc. If you uninstall an app this manager should clean everything related to you app, even your user settings in any file or IsolatedStorage that you create.
iPhone and Android give you an ability to use some sort of file manager to explore your phone. As far as I can remember you could use Putty to connect to your phone to see the folders and stuff. In Windows Phone you cannot go this far. There are some tools like Windows Phone Power Tools that you can use to check the installed apps, but that's about it.
Apps and all their related data are stored in sandboxed folders. When an app is uninstalled this whole folder is deleted. As such this means that all saved data is removed.
There are two, probably non-ideal, workarounds.
You could create an image saved in the users photo library. You could embed the identifier in the image or it's name but the user has control of these images and may delete it. You also can't programmatically delete such files so you may end up with lots on the device. Having lots of "rogue" files on a device is also likely to cause a user to tidy them up (delete them).
You could store a record of the setting, linked to the device on a web server. This has the downside of needing to maintain the server and handling data sync and offline scenarios.

How to Properly Use Windows Phone 8 Store Test Kit

I have followed the directions on http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/hh394032(v=vs.105).aspx regarding the steps to ensure my application will pass the certification process. However, in the automated testing section the website shows a screenshot of the Store Test Kit, and at the bottom of the screenshot is a button that says 'Start Windows Phone Application Analysis'. I click this and attempt to run the first option, yet it seems to never stop. I have ran it for a few hours and then given up. Is this supposed to take this long? I am using the release build of my application, have completed the App Details portion, and ran the Automated Tests. It seems like the next step is to perform the 'Start Windows Phone Application Analysis' which I cannot seem to complete?
The 'Windows Phone Application Analysis' is not an automated test utility. When you run it, it will launch the app and then the expectation is that you interact with / use the app while it logs details of the run. When you close the app it will generate a report based on what it recorded while it was being used.