14 DAY TRIAL // In order to test apps that are not available in the store on a Windows Phone handset, developers must unlock their devices, but starting today, that’s no longer possible for those still running Windows Phone 8.0.
The company has started sending out notifications to developers to inform them that, starting May 13, 7 PM PT, Windows Phone 8.0 device unlocking for app development is no longer permitted. Developers were allowed to re-unlock their devices before this deadline to continue testing for another 24 months or to update to Windows Phone 8.1 to create apps for the new OS version.
Microsoft says that, in case neither of these is a viable option, you can still code for Windows Phone with the following options (via WindowsCentral):
“After today, no Windows Phone 8.0 device will be able to be developer unlocked, and you will have three options to continue testing Windows Phone 8.0 packages: - Update the phone to Windows Phone 8.1 and unlock it for developer testing - Submit apps as beta through the Windows Dev Center and test with Windows Phone 8.0 devices - Test Windows Phone 8.0 apps via the Windows Phone emulator.”
Windows Phone 8.1 running on most devices
Developing apps for Windows Phone 8.0, however, makes little sense these days, especially because only few users are still running it on their devices.
Statistics provided by AdDuplex for the month of April 2015 reveal that Windows Phone 8.1 was powering no less than 72.5 percent of the Windows Phone handsets out there, while Windows Phone 8.0 was only spotted on 18.3 percent on these devices.
This number is expected to drop even more in the coming months as we move closer to the launch of Window 10 Mobile, as the new mobile operating system is offered as a free upgrade for devices running Windows Phone 8.1, so this is quite a big reason to update devices.