Windows Store Apps Tips & Tools
Author: Andrea Boschin
Price: $1.99 
Formats: PDF, Word, EPUB, MOBI.
Number of pages: 37
Release date: April 2013
This ebook collects the 7 parts of SilverlightShow article series on developing Windows Store apps.
Windows Store apps are currently a great opportunity for the business. The Windows Store, like other brand's stores, gives a number of tools that simplifies the deployment and sell of applications to Windows Phone and Windows 8, removing the need of having your own sell interfaces, together with the availability of an effective visibility that would be very difficult to achieve with a custom solution.
From the developer point of view, there are a number of tools, that enable to add the capability of support selling, using directly the Windows Store or from inside your own application. This enables a number of scenario. Not only you can sell the entire application, but also you are allowed to sell parts that can be enabled, one-by-one, after the user pay the required price.
Currently there are alot of apps in the store that support this latest scenario. The application is freely downloadable and offers basic functionality, allowing the user to try the app and become loyal. Then the application proposes the buy of additional features, from inside the app. If the application is well designed and effective, the user can easily upgrade to a fully functional version, buying the modules that he needs.
Chapter 1: Handle trial and in-app purchase with Windows Store apps
The first step: supports trial mode
License application modules separately
Move to the next: enable in-app purchase
What about test?
Enjoy your earnings.
Chapter 2: Optimize Windows Store application startup with a waiting splash screen
Understanding startup time
Handle startup properly
What and when...
Be always careful
Chapter 3: Exploring Raw Notifications in Windows Store apps
The raw way...
Receive raw notifications
Proper usage of raw notifications
Chapter 4: Using periodic notification to update the tiles
Periodic notifications: What are they?
Wrap up a service with a notification
Fetching notifications from multiple urls
A not so crazy idea
Chapter 5: Manage network connectivity in Windows Store apps
Detect network status and its changes.
Connection costs
Apply strategies with a pattern
Chapter 6: Keep the GridView under control with style and templates
Grouped or ungrouped.
Define the item template
Stiling the container
GridView vs ListView
Chapter 7: Use Bing Maps for Windows Store apps
Installing the Bing Maps SDK for Windows Store apps
Specify the Bing Maps credentials
Configuration and usage of the map.
Display multiple items
About bugs and performances.
About the author:
Andrea Boschin is a Silverlight MVP from Italy who currently lives and works in Treviso, a beautiful town near Venice. He started to work in the IT relatively late after doing some various jobs like graphic designer and school teacher. Finally he started to work into the web and learned by himself to program in VB and ASP and later in C# and ASP.NET. Since the start of his work, Andrea found he likes to learn new technologies and take them into the real world. This happened with ASP.NET, the source of his first two MVP awards, and recently with Silverlight, that he started to use from the v1.0 in some real projects.
Andrea blogs at http://silverlightplayground.org/ and tweets from @aboschin.