14 DAY TRIAL // On Tuesday, Redmond-based software giant Microsoft has announced a new tool for first-time developers, in the form of Windows Phone App Studio
It arrives as a free, web-based app creation tool, which requires no coding from devs, while enabling them to easily transform an idea in a Windows Phone application, the company notes.
According to Microsoft, it was “designed to help anyone quickly bring an idea to life by applying text, web content, imagery, and design concepts to any one of a rich set of customizable templates.”
To enjoy it, developers will need to create a Microsoft account, choose a template, and then start adding content to it
“Windows Phone App Studio does the rest. When your app is ready to go, you can download the app to your own phone, or share it with others by publishing it to the Windows Phone Store,” Microsoft’s Todd Brix notes in a blog post.
Those who will take the new tool for a spin are recommended to test the apps they will build on a Windows Phone before publishing it.
For that, Microsoft announced that the developer phone registration process had been simplified, and that developers can unlock and register 1 phone now, while also being able to load up to 2 apps on it.
However, registered developers who already have a Dev Center account will continue to be able to unlock a number of up to 3 phones, while having the option to upload up to 10 apps on each.
“When you’re ready to publish your new app to the Windows Phone Store, you’ll need a Dev Center account,” said blog post continues.
“We’re making that easier as well with our $19 ‘Summer Break’ limited-time Dev Center registration offer (through August 26, 2013). With this offer, the annual Dev Center registration is just $19 (or equivalent local currency). See official terms for more details.”
Microsoft also announced Click to Chat support in the Windows Phone Dev Center so that registered developers could chat live with a support representative (go to Submit a support ticket, and then select your Problem type and Category to see the chat option).