
Ask HN: Are you developing anything for Windows mobile phone 7? - gdhillon
Just curious if anyone here is doing any work for Windows mobile app?. Just read on TC that they reached 50K published apps mark.<p>http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/27/windows-phone-marketplace-hits-50000-published-apps/
======
ashvs
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>

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kgutteridge
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

~~~
brador
Slight aside: What's the best way to market apps? Do you have a workflow
setup?

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milesskorpen
Yes, we (RedLaser) just launched a WP7 app last week.
[http://www.windowsphone.com/en-
US/apps/8fbeb777-a17c-4afd-b8...](http://www.windowsphone.com/en-
US/apps/8fbeb777-a17c-4afd-b880-deac88ed86ca)

~~~
cooldeal
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.

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farhadabas
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...](http://www.windowsphone.com/en-
us/apps/24139b6e-e8a6-4c87-80f9-dd8dd40fc454)

~~~
vijayr
from the screenshots, the graphics look good. do you make the graphics too?

~~~
farhadabas
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.

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robterrell
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.

~~~
Tarks
Free Lumina for registered devs? I'm sure there's a few people here, myself
included, that would appreciate more info on that.

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Stronico
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.

~~~
freehunter
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.

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viggity
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 :)

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bignoggins
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.

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texture
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/>

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Permit
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.

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barranger
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 :))

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ReadyNSet
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.html)

~~~
ct
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.

------
nailer
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.

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jordanvisco
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.

~~~
freehunter
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.

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latch
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.

------
gjulianm
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.

~~~
farhadabas
Here is the mentioned Techcrunch article:
[http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/30/why-kik-loves-windows-
phone...](http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/30/why-kik-loves-windows-
phone-7-spoiler-it-boosts-android-and-ios-user-growth/)

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jaggred
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>

------
kpao
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.

------
ivanbernat
I've been with Windows Phone 7 from day 1 and have made a few smallish
projects.

------
polyfractal
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 =)

------
nazar
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?

~~~
gdhillon
You have to use .Net platform with C# or VB.Net

~~~
nazar
Using the same Visual Studio to code desktop programs? Or are there some plug-
ins for the mobile development?

~~~
TomOfTTB
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...](http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/03/18/building-
a-windows-phone-7-twitter-application-using-silverlight.aspx)

~~~
nazar
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...

~~~
yannickt
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.

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jgeorge
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.

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tirrellp
Yes. We have had a long-running relationship with Nokia, and apps for Wp7 are
part of the deliverables.

