Windows App Studio now supports Windows 10 universal apps

May 27, 2015 06:16 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has just released an update for its Windows App Studio service that allows users to create universal apps that can run on Windows 10.

Still in beta, the service comes with support for Windows 10 Insider Preview, so you need to be running the latest version of the preview to run the apps you create. Windows App Studio Beta can be used in any modern browser, and all you need is a Microsoft account before you start creating your first app for Windows 10.

According to the official release notes, the new beta version of the service includes live tile updates, so your apps will have a reduced impact on battery life and greater reliability.

At the same time, Xbox Music can be used as data source, so artists can be imported in the apps you create in App Studio.

“App Studio will fetch album metadata, including album covers, to bind to your pages like any other collection data source. Xbox Music Data Source will also allow you to launch the Music app to listen to the album you want using a deep link configured as a URL action in our collections,” Microsoft says.

Maps can also be used in your apps thanks to support for the Bing Maps control, the company adds.

No support for phones just yet

Once your app is complete, you can generate the package that can be installed on your devices for testing, but you are also allowed to download the Visual Studio project to access the source code. Microsoft says that this beta only works on PCs running the latest version of Windows 10 Insider Preview, and support for phones would be added at a later time.

Needless to say, this is a free service and can be used without any limitation by users worldwide, and make sure that you select Windows 10 before you generate the installable app package. Windows 8.1 support obviously continues to be offered, and support for phones running Windows Phone 8.1 is also available.