How to Publish an App Studio app to the Windows Phone Store
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Introduction to Mobile
App Developer
Welcome to this video.
Get your app ready to go to market.
In the previous videos,
the ins and outs of Windows'
phone apps studio
on how to get to the
source code
and make a modification.
You still have to create
a Windows phone app
using the web-based
app studio tool.
And then notify
the source code in Visual Studio.
In this video, I'm going to
show you how to get your app ready
to be published
in Windows phone store.
By the end of this video,
you will see how to get started
with publishing
an app studio app.
After that, it's up to you
to come up with great ideas
for apps, develop them
and then publish them in the store.
Some Useful Resources
Before I get started,
I want to highlight
a couple of resources
that you'll find useful
when you come
to publish your own app.
When you submit
your app for publication
it must be certified
before it can appear in the store.
On this page, you can review the
detailed certification requirements
all apps published
in the store must meet.
To make sure you avoid
common certification failures,
you may also want
to check out the post,
Top Windows Phone App
Certification Failures
and How to Avoid Them on the
Windows Phone Developer Blog.
On this page here
provides detailed guidance
on how to test your app
before submitting it to the store.
when you're happy
your app meets all those
certification requirements, you
can begin the submission process.
Downloading the XAP
FILE from App Studio
On the Publish Info tab,
I'm going to complete
and information and preparation
for publishing my app to the store.
I write a description.
Select a language, and optionally
each loads an about dialogue
and enable arts in my app.
I click Finish when I'm done.
The first thing that you'll need
to publish an app to the store
is the XAP file that contains
you app and all its resources.
If you're planning on publishing
the app you created on App Studio
without making any further changes
then you can download the XAP file
from App Studio by clicking
on the Publish Package link.
In addition to
downloading the XAP file
you must register
for developer account.
You'll need three hundred
by three hundred pixel PNG file
that will serve as your app tile
to display in the store.
This is typically a larger version
of the image used as
your app tile on the phone.
You need one or more,
with a maximum of eight
PNG screenshots of your app.
You must have permission to use all
the content that your app contains.
It must have a suitable logo,
title, description for your app.
You'll learn more about all
of these as you watch this video.
Building the XAP File in
Visual Studio
If you've made some changes
to your app using Visual Studio.
You'll need to build
the XAP file in Visual Studio.
Make sure that you set
Visual Studio to do a release build
and then, build the solution.
You'll find the XAP file
in the app slash AppStudio.UI
slash Bin,
slash Release folder.
You should then
make sure that you've identified
the other resources ready that you'll
need during the submission process.
Creating Screenshots
As I discussed earlier,
you need a three hundred
by three hundred pixel PNG file
to represent
your app int the store.
Typically,
this is the same images
as the one hundred and sixty by
one hundred and sixty pixel image
that you used in App Studio
to represent the app
and use on the app's tile.
Ideally, you should start
with a three hundred
by three hundred image
and create a scaled down version
to use in App Studio.
You also need one, you can have
up to eight screenshots of your app
to give potential users
browsing the store
an idea of what
your app looks like.
The easiest way to get
a screenshot of the right size
is to run your app in the emulator
at WXGA Resolution.
If I expand this toolbar
at the side of the emulator
then I can capture a screenshot
that has to create dimensions.
Seven hundred and sixty-eight
by twelve hundred and sixty pixels.
There are a couple
of specific requirements
for the screenshot images
that you must meet.
Screenshots must only
contain app graohics
and must not include
any emulator chrome,
frame rate counters
or debug information.
We may not graphically enhance
your screenshots except
for the additional informative
overlays designated
and pre-approved by Microsoft.
For more information
about these overlays,
search the Windows Phone Blog
for the word, 'Overlay.'
Each screenshot must match
the supported resolution size.
For more information,
see the webpage,
'Multi-resolution apps
for Windows Phone 8.'
Screenshots must
not be transparent PNG files.
You must not submit screenshots
of the photos of the app
while it runs on a phone
or on the emulator.
Use the built-in emulator
screenshot tool to take
screenshots for your app instead.
Optionally, you can provide a
one thousand by eight hundred image
that will be used if your app
is featured in the store.
You also need some text
to describe your app.
It's a good idea to take
a look at other similar store apps
to see what kind of tile images,
screenshots and descriptions work well
before you go ahead
and create your own.
The Submission Process
I've already signed up
for a developer account.
So from the
Windows Phone Dev Center,
I'm going to click Submit App.
At this point, if you haven't
signed up for a developer account,
you'll be given
the opportunity to do so.
I use the same
Microsoft account that I use
when I signed up
for App Studio.
Then, i click on
the Submit App link.
From here, I can complete
the mandatory and optional steps
in the app submission process.
I start by clicking on
Step One to enter my app info.
On this page, I complete all of the
basic app info including its alias
which is what they use in
the Dev Center, not in the store.
The category to be listed in
and the price it is sold at.
There are more
options if I click here.
If I'm submitting a game,
I may need to submit
a game certification
for specific regions.
Clicking on the,
Learn More link
will provide you with necessary
information about game certificates.
When I'm done,
I click, Save.
Next, I click on Step Two
to upload the XAP file.
If I click on Add New,
I can locate the XAP file
on my computer and upload it.
When the upload completes,
the page displays information
about the XAP file.
If I scroll down, I can enter
additional information
about my apps such as
a description of the app
and keywords to help users
to find my app in the store.
And scrolling down further, I can
upload the various image files.
Notice how the site
can automatically generate
the low resolution screenshots
on the WXGA ??.
Finally, I click Save,
at the bottom of the page.
This app doesn't require any
of the optional information,
so I go ahead
and click Review and Submit.
From here,
you can already go ahead
and submit the app
for certification and publication.
We'll go back and make any
further changes that are needed.
I click on Submit.
And then, go to
the Lifecycle page.
From here, I can monitor
the process of my app
through the different
stages of certification
and after it is published,
manage the app in the store.
It can take up to
five business days
for the app to complete
the certification process
before the app
appears in the store.
Thank you for watching
this video and looking forward
to seeing your
great apps in the store.