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Why the Windows Phone Store is such a flop
OZApps
Guru
Time and time again, I have been between trying to look at the potential of the Windows Phone App Store, in fact till date that has been the largest expense till date that has been an utter waste of time and resources. From my perspective and experience, here's a quick share of things
1. My main dev device was a MacBookPro, Windows Phone simulator was just released around 2009 and would not work on a VM running Windows 7 and needed a physical machine, so got a netbook ~ $500K, wouldn't work on a netbook, needed DX10 and a *good* display card, etc. So purchased a Toshiba Satellite 15" for nearly $2K and the simulator works, but Expression Studio, etc would drag and not work. Got a phone to try and see how an app works on the device, could not even unlock the phone. To unlock a phone, you have to have published an app first. Amazing Microsoft policies.
2. Now after a couple of years, upgraded the HDD to a SDD, the same Laptop starts up in a blazing 15 seconds (which otherwise took about 7-8 minutes) and... Installing Visual Studio is a pain in all parts. It downloaded 2 GB of whatever images and then the installation just fails with random components installed and not installed.
I know Eclipse is a pain and no one should have to work with it, but installing Eclipse and getting it to work is much easier than Visual Studio. I do not want the Team Edition, nor do I want the Pro or the Express, can I not get the simple Standard version?? Apparently not.
3. Let's say someone had already got an app on the store, now you want to download the same on to your device. You navigate to the store and VOILA!! You cannot download it because.... It is not available in your marketplace. Another message is it is not Compatible for your device or you do not have the required update to run this app and so on.
Do you think, the company that made software that would work on any device however good or crappy it was? I recollect in the early 90's the issues with the Hercules Display cards and Monochrome monitors which were more commonly used vs other parts of the world where people did not know there were things like Monochrome monitors that displayed Grey.
The software and hardware is just become incompatible with anything one wants to do and the cost in terms of time and resources has increased exponentially.
So, I would be just happy to create desktop .exe applications that can be installed and run on their platforms. Since VB's demise, VB.Net has not exactly filled in the way VB did. There are a couple of Desktop frameworks (capable of creating cross-platform binaries if not using things like ADOBE-AIR).
The only place where I have not recovered my investment from is Microsoft, invested another ~$500K on the Asus SmartTab running Windows 8 demonstrates that the Microsoft Tablets are going to be a good option, the Surface 2 if they do take off will be a good option and since they would be able to run .exe (Side Load) and maybe even run legacy software (most commonly used windows software is quite old and expensive to upgrade or move away from) that would be a preferred choice.
So @Atilim and @ar2rsawseen, creating Desktop Apps in addition to Mobile Apps...
@Platypus, I just remembered why I was not a fan of Windows Phone and the WP Store
My first encounter with a Windows Mobile Device was with the Compaq iPaq in early 2000 when I picked one up for about 2200 Dhs and then a couple of more on a CF Sleeve, a PCMCIA Sleeve, and a Nokia PCMCIA Card Modem. This setup allowed me to use my iPaq as a Mobile Phone (smartphone) when the competition was Nokia and Ericsson with their brick phones. I absolutely loved this and saw a big future, in fact we were planning an sales automation implementation at the office for our sales team, and a friend wanted to attach a bubble-jet printer so that the sales team could also print out on the move (all of this is 2001) Here in Australia, Australia Post use these Windows Mobile devices for deliveries that require a signature with a barcode scanner attachment, etc.
Microsoft had it all, they were in Set-top boxes, Fuel pumps, Cars (Alfa Romeo has Windows Mobile devices) but then Microsoft started to focus on the dotNet strategy, and just licensing this rather than enhancing it. If you talk to anyone about smartphones, anyone will tell you that Apple was the game changer, Apple created the revolution, where in fact it was Palm and then Microsoft. Not having created the proper tools and making it friendly for the developers, it couldn't survive.
Just my rant because I could not install Cut the rope on my Windows Phone...
1. My main dev device was a MacBookPro, Windows Phone simulator was just released around 2009 and would not work on a VM running Windows 7 and needed a physical machine, so got a netbook ~ $500K, wouldn't work on a netbook, needed DX10 and a *good* display card, etc. So purchased a Toshiba Satellite 15" for nearly $2K and the simulator works, but Expression Studio, etc would drag and not work. Got a phone to try and see how an app works on the device, could not even unlock the phone. To unlock a phone, you have to have published an app first. Amazing Microsoft policies.
2. Now after a couple of years, upgraded the HDD to a SDD, the same Laptop starts up in a blazing 15 seconds (which otherwise took about 7-8 minutes) and... Installing Visual Studio is a pain in all parts. It downloaded 2 GB of whatever images and then the installation just fails with random components installed and not installed.
I know Eclipse is a pain and no one should have to work with it, but installing Eclipse and getting it to work is much easier than Visual Studio. I do not want the Team Edition, nor do I want the Pro or the Express, can I not get the simple Standard version?? Apparently not.
3. Let's say someone had already got an app on the store, now you want to download the same on to your device. You navigate to the store and VOILA!! You cannot download it because.... It is not available in your marketplace. Another message is it is not Compatible for your device or you do not have the required update to run this app and so on.
Do you think, the company that made software that would work on any device however good or crappy it was? I recollect in the early 90's the issues with the Hercules Display cards and Monochrome monitors which were more commonly used vs other parts of the world where people did not know there were things like Monochrome monitors that displayed Grey.
The software and hardware is just become incompatible with anything one wants to do and the cost in terms of time and resources has increased exponentially.
So, I would be just happy to create desktop .exe applications that can be installed and run on their platforms. Since VB's demise, VB.Net has not exactly filled in the way VB did. There are a couple of Desktop frameworks (capable of creating cross-platform binaries if not using things like ADOBE-AIR).
The only place where I have not recovered my investment from is Microsoft, invested another ~$500K on the Asus SmartTab running Windows 8 demonstrates that the Microsoft Tablets are going to be a good option, the Surface 2 if they do take off will be a good option and since they would be able to run .exe (Side Load) and maybe even run legacy software (most commonly used windows software is quite old and expensive to upgrade or move away from) that would be a preferred choice.
So @Atilim and @ar2rsawseen, creating Desktop Apps in addition to Mobile Apps...
@Platypus, I just remembered why I was not a fan of Windows Phone and the WP Store
My first encounter with a Windows Mobile Device was with the Compaq iPaq in early 2000 when I picked one up for about 2200 Dhs and then a couple of more on a CF Sleeve, a PCMCIA Sleeve, and a Nokia PCMCIA Card Modem. This setup allowed me to use my iPaq as a Mobile Phone (smartphone) when the competition was Nokia and Ericsson with their brick phones. I absolutely loved this and saw a big future, in fact we were planning an sales automation implementation at the office for our sales team, and a friend wanted to attach a bubble-jet printer so that the sales team could also print out on the move (all of this is 2001) Here in Australia, Australia Post use these Windows Mobile devices for deliveries that require a signature with a barcode scanner attachment, etc.
Microsoft had it all, they were in Set-top boxes, Fuel pumps, Cars (Alfa Romeo has Windows Mobile devices) but then Microsoft started to focus on the dotNet strategy, and just licensing this rather than enhancing it. If you talk to anyone about smartphones, anyone will tell you that Apple was the game changer, Apple created the revolution, where in fact it was Palm and then Microsoft. Not having created the proper tools and making it friendly for the developers, it couldn't survive.
Just my rant because I could not install Cut the rope on my Windows Phone...
twitter: @ozapps | http://www.oz-apps.com | http://howto.oz-apps.com | http://reviewme.oz-apps.com
Author of Learn Lua for iOS Game Development from Apress ( http://www.apress.com/9781430246626 )
Cool Vizify Profile at https://www.vizify.com/oz-apps
Author of Learn Lua for iOS Game Development from Apress ( http://www.apress.com/9781430246626 )
Cool Vizify Profile at https://www.vizify.com/oz-apps
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Meet Kate. Grey is her favourite colour. Maths is her favourite subject. Decency is her favourite type of behaviour.
She definitely does not like jewellery or modelling, but loves aeroplanes and other machines made of aluminium.
Author of Learn Lua for iOS Game Development from Apress ( http://www.apress.com/9781430246626 )
Cool Vizify Profile at https://www.vizify.com/oz-apps
Here is a download report. After a week it has a 200 downloads per day and 700+ total.
But neither ads nor in-apps doesn't works correctly for me in Marmalade so earnings are very low.
Just sharing my experience.
Likes: john26
Just out of interest, what kind of ads did you implement, native or web?
I thought so. We did the same but abandoned it pretty quickly. I tried native ads too but the integration was too cumbersome.
Actually 200 downloads a day is pretty good. Did you try the Windows Store (for PC) also?
Likes: SinisterSoft
https://github.com/gideros/gideros
https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnBlackburn1975
Yes, 200 installs per day is better that i think about WP store. Game is only for russian speaking players. May be if it will have more targetted regions downloads will be better.
Likes: SinisterSoft
https://github.com/gideros/gideros
https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnBlackburn1975