2. Publishing to the Store
Brandon Hurlburt | @brandonh_msft
Sr. Software Development Engineer
3. = Universal Windows Platform
One Store +
One Dev Center
Cloud
Services
One SDK +
Tooling
Adaptive
User Interface
Natural
User Inputs
Configuration
ManagementSecurity
Updates
7. Register for a developer account
online at dev.windows.com
For individuals, $19. For companies,
$99. One-time charge, no renewal
Go!
Getting Started with
Dev Center
8. Reserve your app name for that great idea!
As soon as you have an idea for an app, reserve that name!
Go to dev.windows.com
Log in with your account
Head to your dashboard
Create a new App
Get the name reserved!
9.
10. Your app’s ready to go live, what next?
Start your first submission and get it in the store!
11. #xboxappdev
Defining the “how much,” “where,”
and “on what” of your app
How much will you charge
Free? Trial? Paid up front?
Where will you sell it
Any combination of 242 markets
worldwide
Individual pricing per-market
What will it run on?
Desktop? Mobile? HoloLens? Xbox?
Step 1 – Pricing &
Availability
16. #xboxappdev
Manually: Once it’s validate &
certified, you’ll get an e-mail and will
have to come back to the Dev
Center Dashboard and click a button
for the Publish operation to continue
and start distributing your app or
app update to Store users.
No Sooner: “Gate” the publishing of
your app until the specified date &
time once it passes certification. At
that time, the Publish operation will
automatically kick off.
Publish date
18. Category + Subcategory
26 different categories
Defines the browsing presence of your app in the store.
19. #xboxappdev
Level-set with Microsoft and set
permissions for your app as it relates
to installation and backups
• Use 3rd party commerce system, sell
physical goods or take donations? (eg: a
Hosted Web App might have a Shopping
Cart where payment is fulfilled through a
credit card provider, PayPal, etc)
• Tested for Accessibility?
• Allow the app to be put on removable
storage?
• Back up the app’s storage folders to
the user’s OneDrive folder
automatically?
Declarations
21. Age Ratings
Provides the necessary information for compliance in various markets throughout the
world as it relates to software ratings and content. Process is overseen by IARC which
provides “spot checks” and investigation in to complaints filed by users.
22. #xboxappdev
You are obligated only to provide
due diligence in rating your app.
Our news app could show news
related to war, natural disasters,
etc so could show violent imagery.
Similar logic applies for controlled
substances.
Have you done the IARC
questionnaire for your app for
another purpose? You can input
the IARC Rating ID and the
associated ratings without filling
out the questionnaire.
Age Ratings (cont.)
23. #xboxappdev
When you’re done, you’ll get a
report of how your answers
mapped to the various rating
agencies around the globe. If you
feel it doesn’t accurately reflect
your app, have a closer look at
the questions and more closely
evaluate your app to see if your
answers were indeed indicative of
the potential content of the app.
You can Edit your answers or
Continue on, accepting the ratings
shown
Age Ratings (cont.)
26. #xboxappdev
You *MUST* build your UWP
app with the Anniversary
Update SDK in order to submit
it to the Store as an Xbox UWP
First things first
27. #xboxappdev
Open Solution in Visual Studio
Right-click App project | Store |
Create App Packages…
Associate your app with
your Store listing
28. #xboxappdev
‘Yes’ to upload to the Store
‘No’ to build a package that can
be side-loaded on to devices
Associating with the
Store (cont.)
29. #xboxappdev
Choose the Store Listing for the app
you’re building
You can also Reserve a name here
instead of the portal
If you’re creating a pkg as an update
to an existing app, select the “Include
app names…” checkbox
Make sure the right MS Account is
selected in the upper right
30. #xboxappdev
1) Automatic increment is for 3rd
digit (aka: ‘build number’). Will
bump with each ‘Create App
Package’ run
2) 4th digit “untouchable” – used by
Store’s compiler. Must be 0 to
upload to Store
• PDBs can be included so stack
traces can be present in analytics
collected by Store, HockeyApp,
Application Insights, etc.
• Store only accepts .Net Native
Release-compiled output from this
tool (.appxupload)
Create the Store package
31. #xboxappdev
Launch WACK (Windows App
Certification Kit) and ensure
your app passes this process
This is the exact process used
by the Store’s automated
certification pipeline
Click ‘Output location’ link to
open right to the folder where
the .appxupload file resides
33. Package goes through some quick & cursory validating
Presents with deciphered package metadata; make sure this is what you expect
34. #xboxappdev
You’re also presented with a device
matrix to declare which devices will
get which of your app’s packages
Useful when adding new UWP
packages to older store listings, or to
apply different *packages* to
different Device families
Check the Xbox box (of course)!
1) When Microsoft creates the next
game-changing device, your app
may be automatically-deployed to
that device with this box checked
You can pick your family…
35. Create the Store listing
Listing for each language declared as supported in the
app’s manifest
37. #xboxappdev
Simply drag & drop screenshots
you’ve taken on the various
platforms in to their place in to
the listing description
Also works for uploading
branding images for the Store
listing
Drag & drop screenshots
38. #xboxappdev
You define the logo for the
Store in your app’s manifest file
Pulled out automatically in to
your listing
Some imagery will be
auto-populated
39. Notes for certification
Anything the certification engineers at Microsoft need in order to properly
use/vet your app and its stability
40. #xboxappdev
You can change the publishing
method any time before
‘Release’ is hit
‘Cancel’ will only
back out the
Submission
process, the
submission details
will still be there for
you to tweak &
resubmit
Submit!
41.
42. #xboxappdev
Associated with an app
Price set independently
Have their own description text
per language
Can be put on sale
Consumable or Durable
Add-ons treated a lot
like apps themselves
43. #xboxappdev
Can update icon, title,
description, keywords, lifetime
(for durables) pricing, market
availability, visibility, separate
from your app
Submitted, certified, and
published separate of the app
itself
Can go on sale individually,
gated/manual publish just like
apps
Add-ons have their own
Submission flow
