Ask HN: Are you developing anything for Windows mobile phone 7?
24 comments
Yes, we (i.e., the YouVersion team) have been actively developing and releasing Windows Phone 7 versions of our app for just over a year as of now.
While I'm not authorized to reveal the percentage of our approximately 36 million unique installs (i.e., installs on unique devices) that can be attributed to Windows Phone devices, I can say that we're continuing to invest in the ongoing development of our Windows Phone app.
Our soon to be released, next version of the Windows Phon app will feature a number of enhancements related to features made available in the recent Mango update (i.e. Windows Phone 7.5).
For more information on our Windows Phone app, including screenshots and comparisons to our apps for other platforms (e.g., iOS, Android, Blackberry, WebOS, etc.), please refer to the following link:
http://www.youversion.com/mobile/wp
While I'm not authorized to reveal the percentage of our approximately 36 million unique installs (i.e., installs on unique devices) that can be attributed to Windows Phone devices, I can say that we're continuing to invest in the ongoing development of our Windows Phone app.
Our soon to be released, next version of the Windows Phon app will feature a number of enhancements related to features made available in the recent Mango update (i.e. Windows Phone 7.5).
For more information on our Windows Phone app, including screenshots and comparisons to our apps for other platforms (e.g., iOS, Android, Blackberry, WebOS, etc.), please refer to the following link:
http://www.youversion.com/mobile/wp
It must be the only mobile platform I havent found time to write anything for personally (this year managed to get apps in the relevant stores for iOS, Android, WebOS, Meego and Symbian)
I do really like the look of the Lumia and will always have a soft spot for Nokia, having to use Windows for the development OS is the large mental barrier that has caused me not to have a dabble, as it feels, most likely wrongly that it will take a while to get into.
On this respect I am selfishly glad Microsoft decided to hamper it by calling it "Windows Phone" which I am sure the man in the street has a negative view off compared to the likes of the non Windows branded Microsoft products like Xbox
I do really like the look of the Lumia and will always have a soft spot for Nokia, having to use Windows for the development OS is the large mental barrier that has caused me not to have a dabble, as it feels, most likely wrongly that it will take a while to get into.
On this respect I am selfishly glad Microsoft decided to hamper it by calling it "Windows Phone" which I am sure the man in the street has a negative view off compared to the likes of the non Windows branded Microsoft products like Xbox
Slight aside: What's the best way to market apps? Do you have a workflow setup?
Yes, we (RedLaser) just launched a WP7 app last week.
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/8fbeb777-a17c-4afd-b8...
Interesting. Didn't know that, downloading now. As an aside, consider submitting it to sites like http://www.wmpoweruser.com and http://wpcentral.com for more exposure.
I have published several free games with ads for WP7. I am currently a student and making enough to cover my rent, and help me pay my tuition.
My most popular game:
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/apps/24139b6e-e8a6-4c87-80...
from the screenshots, the graphics look good. do you make the graphics too?
Thanks- I made the graphics myself. I am not a graphic artist or anything, but can get around Photoshop/Illustrator enough to create graphics for a simple game.
Is it allowed to encourage your users to click on the ads?
I plan to write one app for it next year. I got a notification from Nokia about a free Lumia 800 for registered developers and I jumped on it. If it ever ships, I'm going to put the time in and learn it.
It doesn't sound like anyone is making fuck-you money on the Windows Phone 7 app store, so I'm just looking at this as a learning exercise.
It doesn't sound like anyone is making fuck-you money on the Windows Phone 7 app store, so I'm just looking at this as a learning exercise.
Free Lumina for registered devs? I'm sure there's a few people here, myself included, that would appreciate more info on that.
I think referring to the technology as "Windows Phone 7" or "WP7" will probably generate better responses.
And I have one in the works, yes.
And I have one in the works, yes.
Yeah, Microsoft is trying to distance itself from Windows Mobile, so I cringe when people refer to it as Windows Mobile 7. WP7 doesn't deserve that kind of reputation.
Over the past year, I've made about $2400 from the sale of three different apps. SkyView7, Lighter and Revolver (with over half coming from skyview).
Nothing earth shattering, but has help buy my tech toys :)
Nothing earth shattering, but has help buy my tech toys :)
Ported my top selling iPhone and android app to wp7 pretty recently. Can't say sales are stellar but I think you can never count Microsoft out. The new Nokia phones look very good.
I started developing apps the first month it was possible. I initially decided to test the waters by cloning apps which were very popular on iPhone and Android.
I spent a month creating clones of Koi Pond, Fart App, Hipstamatic, and acoustic guitar. In something like 9 months I've sold ~1000 apps. I've made about enough money to pay for the phone and for a year of publishing access to the marketplace.
http://www.mobilematiq.com/
I spent a month creating clones of Koi Pond, Fart App, Hipstamatic, and acoustic guitar. In something like 9 months I've sold ~1000 apps. I've made about enough money to pay for the phone and for a year of publishing access to the marketplace.
http://www.mobilematiq.com/
If the Lumia comes to Canada soon, I'd definitely get on it. I really enjoy C# as a language and wouldn't mind trying my hand at developing apps for WP7.
Love how Mango looks as well.
Love how Mango looks as well.
I've built quite a few WP7 apps now, some for clients, some for fun.
It's really a shame that the phone hasn't had even decent sales numbers as IMHO it has the best developer experience (yeah I know, end users don't care about the dev experience :))
It's really a shame that the phone hasn't had even decent sales numbers as IMHO it has the best developer experience (yeah I know, end users don't care about the dev experience :))
Already published an app, with over 3 figure sales.
http://www.bitsabound.com/GlutenFreeRecipes-Windows-Phone-7....
http://www.bitsabound.com/GlutenFreeRecipes-Windows-Phone-7....
Nice. As a gluten intolerant person this is awesome. However, I don't have a WP7 yet to buy this. Waiting for the next version of Nokia's phone next year.
Waiting for WP8 - Windows 8 has WinJS, whereas WP7 is still Silverlight based. Hopefully they'll release something similar for Windows phone in future. If not, I won't bother.
Nope. We've tried a few in the past and they've just done NOTHING so we're not going back. We have much more success on android and apple even with the increased competition.
Are they quality, well marketed apps? We on WP7 are somewhat app-starved compared to other platforms, most people I know on WP7 download apps left and right as long as they know the app exists. Free versions with ads alongside a premium version without ads seem to do very well, and gain money no matter what.
A big problem I've had is finding an app exists and being surprised that it exists. If it doesn't get advertised, there's no way to know it's there.
A big problem I've had is finding an app exists and being surprised that it exists. If it doesn't get advertised, there's no way to know it's there.
I wrote mogade.com which is a free leaderboard/achievement system (much like scoreloop and all them) primarily focused on windows phone developers. At some point, someone at MS generated a list of the 50 most used 3rd party libraries in all WP-app submissions and mogade was somewhere in there (30s or 40s iirc).
For nothing more than a side project, I'd call it pretty successful...but the little insight it's given me into the WP world is that the platform really isn't doing well.
For nothing more than a side project, I'd call it pretty successful...but the little insight it's given me into the WP world is that the platform really isn't doing well.
I'm on some little project for WP7 too. I think that more developers will adopt WP7 when they see it has a clear future. At the moment it's a bit cloudy, we still don't know if it will continue growing or not.
Anyways, being the first on WP7 is risky but can be very profitable. Kik Messenger grew a lot thanks to their WP7 app (the article is in TC, can't search for it now). There are few apps so there is less competition and you can get a lot of new users.
Anyways, being the first on WP7 is risky but can be very profitable. Kik Messenger grew a lot thanks to their WP7 app (the article is in TC, can't search for it now). There are few apps so there is less competition and you can get a lot of new users.
Here is the mentioned Techcrunch article:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/30/why-kik-loves-windows-phone...
ive created 2 simple 2D games and they give me some nice profit so im working on something 3D now.
im using power of mogade :)
@latch - your service is great
->
http://wp7-games.com
I am working on Infinite Flight. It's a civilian flight simulator much like FSX, Flight Unlimited and Pro Pilot. We're currently porting to iOS though, but using Mono Touch and MonoGame, so the code base is mostly the same.
I've been with Windows Phone 7 from day 1 and have made a few smallish projects.
I wrote an app to read The Oatmeal on my phone. It has ads but I haven't really made any money. I don't really care though, since I just wanted to read The Oatmeal on my phone =)
What language/SDKs one has to use in order to write windows 7 apps? Is the overall experience different from iOS/Android app developing? How do one test the apps?
I'm not sure if you mean WP7 or really Windows 7, but in the case of the former, C# and XAML, typically.
Has anyone heard more than rumors about whether Windows Mobile will support the Adobe AIR platform?
You have to use .Net platform with C# or VB.Net
Using the same Visual Studio to code desktop programs? Or are there some plug-ins for the mobile development?
You'll need the WP7 SDK for apps, or XNA Game Studio for games dev
http://create.msdn.com/en-US/resources/downloads
http://create.msdn.com/en-US/resources/downloads
There is a WP7 plugin/toolkit that comes for VS.
Visual Studio Express is a free version Microsoft makes available so it isn't like you have to buy Visual Studio. Here's a good tutorial on writing a quick Windows Phone 7 app using VS Express: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/03/18/building-a...
What is the difference between free and paid version of VS? My internet speed/prices doesnt allow me to watch videos online, or download such big software as VS, but I will soon go back to uni in Singapore, so I am starting to think what should I do there in order to earn some cash...
The Express versions are not designed for multilanguage projects. For example, in the paid versions of VS, you can add C# and C++ projects to the same solution. You cannot add a C++ project to a Visual C# Express solution.
The free version doesn't allow add-ons to be installed in the IDE. I think that's about it. The free version does allow you to make commercial apps, contrary to some postings I've seen about it.
I have a small project in the works, specifically for a service that has existing client apps on iOS and Android, but is lacking a WP7 client.
Yes. We have had a long-running relationship with Nokia, and apps for Wp7 are part of the deliverables.
http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/27/windows-phone-marketplace-hits-50000-published-apps/