Resources on DVLUP

Microsoft Build 2021

Tue, 25 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I’m honored to be chosen by Microsoft to be a Dev M.C. for Microsoft Build 2021! Part of my duties as an MC is to help guide you through the gamut of sessions and resources available to you. This post is to share these things with you.

It’s almost halfway through 2021 right now, at this point most of us have become proficient at attending remote events. From sending the kids to virtual school, 1:1 work meetings, or major conferences requiring a personal agenda, we’ve learned to navigate the virtual landscape of bringing the remote venue into your home.

Scott's Ultimate Tools via Winget

Tue, 29 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

As a nice year-end present for us, he has done it again, visit Scott Hanselman’s 2021 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Windows .

Someone had left a great comment about compiling a list of all his suggestions as Windows Package Manager (aka winget) or Chocolatey package IDs. I mentioned this to Scott and he thought it was a great idea, too. So I offered to compile the list.

Why is this a wonderful suggestion? You only need to run a quick one-liner command, winget install <id> or choco install <id>, and you have installed the software.

The RS5 Update Resources and Tutorials

Wed, 03 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000

My friends at Microsoft have put together an amazing compilation of resources of all the new stuff available in the Windows 10 October 2018 Update (aka RS5). Below is a list of some of those resources relevant to developers and enthusiasts, enjoy!

SDK Downloads

EXE - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=2023014
ISO - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=2022797 You can also install the
Visual Studio Installer - Choose the UWP workload and select 17763 SDK under additional components

New Samples and Sample Updates

XAML Hosting API Sample uses the new XAML hosting API and C++/WinRT to demonstrate usage of XAML controls within a Win32 application.
Customer Orders Database Sample has been updated to use the new Data Grid and other new controls in RS5.
Photo Editor C++/WinRT Sample has been updated to build with the RS5 SDK and to use the new single_threaded_observable_vector function to create an IObservableVector for data binding. An additional performance update will be coming out in a couple weeks.
Data binding and MVVM is a new topic that was identified as a need based on the Code First program. The topic describes the benefits of using the MVVM design pattern and how it has been applied to the sample apps.

Videos

Application Developer Resources

Dev Center site page updates (Home page , Get started , What’s cool , Desktop , Downloads , and more)
What’s New in Windows 10 for developers, build 17763
New APIs in Windows 10 build 17763
Fluent Design controls (CommandBarFlyout , MenuBar , TreeView , and more)
Motion in Fluent Design
Gaze input and interactions
Windows UI Library (WinUI)
MSIX
UWP Controls in desktop applications
C++/WinRT
DirectX Graphics Infrastructure (DXGI)
Project Rome
Windows Machine Learning
Store Analytics API
EdgeHTML 18
Progressive Web Apps
WebVR

Driver Developer Resources

Windows Hardware Dashboard
Debugger Data Model API
Windows Driver Framework (WDF)
Audio
Bluetooth
Display
Windows Kernel
Networking
Mobile Broadband
Sensors
USB
Wi-fi
Go here to see a list of comprehensive list of doc changes.

Epic Build 2018 Playlists

Wed, 09 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Your one-stop shop for Microsoft Build 2018 sessions, slide decks, post links, keynotes and much more.

Living Document Note:

These Playlists will continue to be reordered and updated in real time as new content becomes available. However, the links will always remain the same and you can refresh the playlist page to get any updated ordering/content.

Windows 10 on ARM: Day-One Developer Experience

Thu, 08 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

[EDIT Updated to include ARM64]

I was given the honor of having early access to Windows 10 on ARM (WoA) so that I could chronicle the experience and provide you with tips to ensure that your development experience is smooth. I’ll go through a list of potential issues you might encounter, along my fix for each.

What this post is:

This article is intended to be a quick guide on how to set up the device so that you can deploy and debug your apps. I will be writing this from a UWP developer’s perspective, sharing the experience of deploying and debugging this real time video effects test app .

DevCenter Promo Codes Not Working?

Wed, 29 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

One of the great things about the new DevCenter is the ability to generate Promotional codes for your in-app-purchase products, so I generated 100 codes last night for the launch of Windows 10.

I gave out many codes today but I started getting “the promo code didn’t work” emails. After a quick investigation I found that the LicenseInformation for the user wasn’t refreshed automatically or even after the user restarted their phone. I suspect that this is just temporary, but I found a workaround…

One XAML for UWP, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1

Wed, 27 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I was recently involved in a conversation on how to have the easiest way to maintain a XAML view across a UWP (Universal Windows Project) a Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 projects. There are a few options and the most straight forward way to do it with a UserControl residing in a Portable Class Library. However…

What if you wanted to have **tailored code for each **without littering your code with #ifdef but still share a XAML view? The XAML View might be what you’re looking for. This is a tutorial on how to do just that. An example project is available for download at the end of the article. Let’s get started:

Custom Pivot Header with Animation

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I recently wanted to make a header with tabs for my app’s pages that have a Pivot. Something like Office Mobile, but without the drop-down menus. Here’s the result I got in my upcoming app. I decided to post a tutorial and provide a sample app.

[

Notice the fast fade-in of the background color of the tab, this is important and is where you’ll be able to add your own flavor to the style after you’ve completed this tutorial. Ok, let’s get started!

WinRT MediaCapture Tips

Tue, 20 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

As we approach Windows 10, many of you are considering updating your SL 8.0 apps to WinRT. In fact, Larry Lieberman and team recommend you do this and have shared some resources to help facilitate the move. I’ve done this for a couple apps so far and wanted to share some of my experience while migrating Silverlight AudioVideoCaptureDevice API to WinRT MediaCapture, because you’ll need to rewrite your approach.

The WinRT documentation helps with a lot of stuff, but there are holes that I had to discover for myself. To help ease the process, I’m sharing some of the solutions that I’ve discovered, uncovered and smash-my-head-on-the-desk about. Let’s get started:

Read-only Address Bar for Webview

Sun, 26 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

If you are having a Windows Store application fail certification or being unpublished because you have violated Policy 2.1.2 - requires a visible address bar that displays a secure connection to users when they enter financial information or complete a transaction (see policy definitions ).

The reason for this rule is because you are bringing the user to a site that is using HTTPS and the user may be entering in secure information. You need to give the user confidence that you are not spoofing the website and stealing the entered information.

Invalid XAML error updating from WP7

Mon, 04 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

We are now seeing the beginning of the fast decline of Windows Phone 7 as it exits the market over the next several months, many of you will need to act to update your app to at least Windows Phone 8. I did this for all of my WP7 apps and there was one error that was In just about every upgrade:

An error on this XAML namespace declaration:

xmlns:controls="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Phone.Controls;assembly=Microsoft.Phone.Controls"

```Previous to Windows Phone 8, the Pivot and Panorama controls were part of a toolkit. The Windows Phone team did a solid by included these in the OS, they also added new controls like the LongListSelector to replace the toolkit's ListPicker . These controls are now found in the Phone namespace.

It's a very frustrating problem if you're seeing it for the first time. Don't worry, there is a really easy fix... Delete the xmlns:controls line and use only the xmlns:phone one or edit it and remove the ".Contols" part of the assembly pointer. Here is what it will look like after doing the edit option:

xmlns:controls=“clr-namespace:Microsoft.Phone.Controls;assembly=Microsoft.Phone”

App Studio - Design-Time Sample Data

Wed, 02 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

If you’re like me, you like to fiddle and tweak things to get just the right result . Recently, Microsoft has really beefed up App Studio apps and if you explore the downloaded source code you’ll see a new Universal app structure leveraging MVVM. Let’s start with the before and after photo (click any image to view larger):

Before and after changes to the items lists

Attend Publish Boston & Win Big

Fri, 18 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Since the prizes are really awesome for this event (May 17th), I’m going to start off with them. We will be rewarding the best student, best individual, and best company in each of the categories below:

Top Windows 8.1 app
- Trip to the 2014 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin, TX.
- 9 runner-up Nokia Lumia 1520 prizes
Top Windows Phone app
- $10,000 to build your own “Dev Cave”
- 9 Runner-up Nokia Lumia 1520 prizes
Top Cross Platform app
- MakerBot 3D printer
- 9 Runner-up Nokia Lumia 1520 prizes
Breakthrough in App Innovation and Design
- MakerBot 3D printer
- 9 Runner-up Nokia Lumia 1520 prizes

But wait, there’s more! I will be giving away these prizes at the end of the day…

Build 2014 Videos

Sun, 06 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This year’s Microsoft Build conference was jam packed with Windows Phone goodness. In fact, there is too much to take in at once. So what I’ve done for you is break it down into sections so that you can bookmark this page and come back at your leisure.

These videos are in no particular order, so review them all before you choose, enjoy!

Windows Phone Development

Windows and Windows Phone Design related

Creating Design-Time Sample Data

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

One of the best things you can have when developing a Windows Phone app is design-time sample data. I will show you in this post how to create sample data from a class using Blend. (click images to view larger)

You can apply this technique to an existing class you have, but for the purposes of this tutorial I’ll be using a File > New Visual Studio 2013 Windows Phone project. If you have an existing app, you can skip to Step 3, but I recommend skimming the first two.

Monetizing App Studio with Ads

Fri, 07 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

So, you’d like to put some ads in your awesome App Studio app? No problem! I thought I would write a post to show just how easy it can be. Follow these easy steps and you’ll start earning money from ads…

Ad provider

The ad provider is the service the AdControl in your app gets the ad to display and also where you earn the revenue. As of Windows Phone 8 there is a PubCenter AdControl built into the framework, all you need to do is get an ApplicationId and an AdUnitId. You get that information from Windows Phone DevCenter , find out how to get your ApplicationId and AdUnitId in this great blog post .

Using APIs for new app ideas

Wed, 19 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000

For most applications that provide dynamic content, using an API is critical. It’s the engine of the engaging experience in a data based app. APIs can also be a powerful muse when you’re looking for a new idea for an app. Take a look at the two items below to start exploring the vast world of APIs and spark your imagination.

My recommendation is to go to Mashery first, create your developer account and get the API keys to the ones you want to use. Next, go to theRightAPI and start playing with the API, see the results you get from different queries. Then once you pick an API, you can use the output in theRightAPI to help create your object classes (for example, if you’re getting json results, you can use tools like Json To Csharp to generate your classes).

Make An App Dev Happy Day

Fri, 07 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The Windows Phone developer community is amazing in and of itself, but what happens when you add something like #makeAnAppDevHappyDay ? You get pure awesomeness. What is #makeAnAppDevHappyDay? Nokia DVLUP added fuel to an idea started by Dan Colasanti for developers to help them get the word out about their apps and generate app reviews.

Post your app’s name and link to the store on twitter with the #makeAnAppDevHappyDay, other devs will download your app and leave a review. you do the same for them (It’s also a great way for you to find new apps). Here is an example:

Get It In The Store

Tue, 21 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

UPDATE: This event is sold-out! If you were not able to register in time and need help getting your app published, send me an email and I’ll help you directly.

WPDev Day

Me and several other experts will be spending 6 hours with you on Saturday February 1st, 2014 to help you over come any obstacles that is preventing you from publishing an app. If you do not have any apps in the works, then come and build an App Studio app with our help. Click the Eventbrite button above to get your ticket.

WpDev Success Kit

Sun, 08 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Now that you’re published, get this kit from my friends at Microsoft…

Get your app noticed with your personalized Windows Developer Success Kit. With customized promo materials specifically for your app, plus a little fun thrown in, we want to help you reap the rewards of your hard work.

Your Windows Developer Success Kit contains:

100 customized business cards with app tile & down…load directions for you to hand out
100 customized stickers with app tile to give away Promotion on MSDN East’s Facebook page facebook.com/msdneast
A $5.00 USD Starbucks card to keep you awake while you work on your next great app
1600 Xbox Live points for a gaming break between coding sessions

How to get your kit: Email: msdneast@Microsoft.com Include: Your name, your app name and deep link, your physical mailing address, and the workshop/city you attended if any.

Nokia DVLUP Day

Mon, 28 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Registration has ended!

UPDATE Registration is closed, the hard deadline for stragglers was 12:00 PM 11-16-2013. Thank you for making this one of the highest registered events I’ve ever held at 90% of max building capacity!

IMPORTANT: Make sure you are present at the welcome presentation at 10 AM on the 4th floor. You will learn the answer to a secret question that proves you attended.

Event Description

Learn to make amazing Windows Phone apps at Boston Nokia DVLUP Day and win big prizes just for participating. Nokia Ambassadors, Lance McCarthy and Nick Landry, will provide hands-on Windows Phone development training. Whether you’re a seasoned dev or don’t know a line of code, you will walk away with the ability to write an app.

Get Prototyping

Mon, 23 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

UPDATE

This offer ends midnight, Sunday, October 20th, 2013. If you have been stalling, now is the time to get it finished up.

Here’s my current offer for all you devs who are sitting on the fence about creating a Windows Phone app:

I will give you a Nokia Premium Developer Program token ($1500 value) if you email me your working prototype for Windows Phone.

I’ll then help you finish the app by providing guidance, resources or whatever you need to get it ready for the store. You can use any number of resources to build this prototype:

Doesn't Get Any Easier Than This

Tue, 06 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Microsoft has just launched a new Windows Phone app builder website, Windows Phone App Studio . You can now build a great looking app in no time and earn a free phone from me in the process. You don’t need to be a great programmer, but if you are… you get the source code for the app when you’re done with the template! No other app builder does that for you.

Mini Code Camp

Sat, 03 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I’m doing an awesome one-night mini-code camp on August 21st. Pascal Rettig (@cykod ), organizer of the Boston HTML5 Game Development meetup group, is giving me the floor to show you how to bring your awesome HTML5 skills to the fastest growing mobile platform , Windows Phone. Go here to sign up, it’s free

Before I explain what I’ll be showing you, check out the prizes I am giving away…

Awesome Giveaways!

I will be giving away some great stuff, including:

Redeeming a Nokia Premium Developer Program token

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

There have been many questions recently about how to properly redeem your shiny new Nokia Premium Developer Program. What better way than to record a video for you? Without further ado, here is how to redeem the token, as well as how to get at the Telerik goodness in the center.

After doing this, you’ll know how to get the Microsoft DevCenter token as well as the Buddy.com token because it is the same process to retrieve the individual tokens.

Make an Awesome Video for Your App

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Nokia has gone to great lengths to make it easy for developers to create promotional materials for their Windows Phone apps. This quick video shows you how to do it.

Steps to make your own

Got to the Marketing Toolkit main page (you’ll need to be signed in)
Select the checkbox under “Promotional Video”
Paste in the Store URL to your app
Select the platform of your choice (I chose Lumia 920)
Select a language
Click “Continue”

On the next page:

Deep Diving with Lance

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Grab your scuba gear because we’re diving into new WP8 features

Windows Phone 8 ushered in a bunch of new APIs to hook into. I am providing my Dvlup’rs with a one-on-one training experience via email (and soon, via Skype). Take a look at the topics below. I will do a mini-code camp with you on a topic of your choice, then we can apply what you’ve learned to your app idea.

Rewarding Quality

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Offer ends Feb 11th, 2013 5:00 PM PST

So you’ve published an app and you’ve worked hard to keep its rating at 4+ stars. You’ve had at least 50 ratings, proving that it’s not a fluke. Now what? Let me bring you into the fold of the elite.

You and your app will get:

Windows Phone Store Placement
App Highlights Placement (Nokia’s app that is preinstalled on all new Nokia Lumias)
NAX Credits for you to advertise your app in other apps

So if you meet the conditions (has minimum 50 ratings, is currently 4 stars or higher, and you’re DVLUP member or eligible to be) send me an email ext-lance.mccarthy@nokia.com

An Offer You Can't Refuse

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

One of my responsibilities as a Nokia Developer Ambassador is to help developers get started. I thought to myself, what better way to welcome new developers than give them a new phone and a DevCenter Token ($99 value) or a Nokia Premium Developer Program token ($1,500 value) for building your first Windows Phone app. I will knight you into the brotherhood of Windows Phone developers by giving you one of those sweet prizes and I made it as simple as possible to get one. If you are in my Ambassador area of coverage (see the bottom of the post for regions) send me an email to get started. Here are the three easy-breezy categories:

Registering Extensions

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

With the entrance of Visual Studio 2012 we saw a new interface to edit your WMAppManifest file. This is a great tool to help you properly setup your app’s meta data. There is one limitation you should be aware of… there is no support for extensions. What are extensions? They are the added functionality that lets you tie your app into other parts of the OS and user experience. This blog post will cover the extensions for photos, but the process is the same for other extensions.

From The Ground Up

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

This post is to get you started on Windows Phone Development “from the ground up” and is targeted towards people who have no prior experience with the Windows Phone SDK. At any time you can refer to my resources page for additional links to WPDev assets, tutorials and example code.

Ok, let’s begin.

The first thing you should know is that is does not cost a penny to develop for Windows Phone! The SDK and the tools are free. The only time you will need to pay is when you sign up for your Microsoft DevCenter account. The DevCenter is your portal to the Windows Phone Store. It is where you will submit, update and track your apps. I can help mitigate those costs for you. If you are an Android or iOS Developer and are porting an app, or a true “from the ground up” developer, I will pay for your first year’s DevCenter fee. Contact me for details.

Denied?

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

So, you got an email from DVLUP stating that your challenge submission was denied. Why were you denied? What did you miss? I wanted to write this post to share the top reasons for denial and how to fix it… 90% of these are due to the fact you didn’t edit your WMAppManifest file.

Here are the top offenders:

Not all Live Tiles Sizes
No animated Tiles
Not all WP8 resolutions

#1- You need to have all three tile sizes enabled for your app. Here is a list of the tile sizes from the MSDN Documentation . To rectify this problem, simply toggle the “Support for large Tiles” property in your WMAppManifest file. See the image in answer #2 for more details.

Get a loaner Windows Phone 8 device

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Are you building a Windows Phone 8 app but don’t have a device to test your app on? Are you using the NFC or Bluetooth APIs and having a WP8 device would finalize your testing? There are 3 ways to get a device: Earn one with your rewards points, Trade up your current phone for a new one, or get a loaner device.

This post is about the third option, I can line you up with a loaner device from Nokia. Take the following steps (if you are already a DVLUP member, skip to step 2) and let’s get your app to market!

How Rad is your app?

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I have another giveaway and challenge for my developers today. In addition to being a Nokia Developer Ambassador, I work full time as a XAML Support Specialist at Telerik, yep the awesome RadControls people. So, I’d like to ask you, “How Rad is your app?”

I don’t want this post to sound like an ad, but rather a testimonial. That’s why I make it a point to say that I used the RadControls long before I became an employee, their components are a powerful, indispensable part of my development toolbox. The RadControls make your app look like you had a whole team of designers. I just released an app powered by the RadControls, “Conferenced In”. Get it here so you can follow along with this post as I make a simple comparison.

Comatose Cursor

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

You’re sitting in front of your PC, steaming cup of next to you and your fingers are posed over the keyboard ready to strike. Visual Studio is full screen and Expression Blend is waiting to assist in the background, but your cursor is blinking steadily in the same place it was 15 minutes ago. You’re blank, the ideas aren’t flowing, the classes of objects haven’t materialized yet.

Getting Started: NAX and Windows Phone 8

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

[UPDATE]

NAX has been discontinued and rolled up into Inneractive accounts]

Original Post

The purpose of this post is to demonstrate how easy it is to get started using the Nokia Ad Exchange (NAX) SDK with your Windows Phone 8 (WP8) app. Although there is no specific SDK for WP8, the process is the same with only one difference. You need to manually check off the capabilities your app will use. Let’s get started.

Level Up with DVLUP!

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Got your developer hat on? Check. Got your gamer hat on? Check. Ready to earn awesome rewards for doing what you love? Check!

Great, then let’s get rolling! I am officially announcing the beginning of a brand new, groundbreaking program from Nokia for Windows Phone developers, DVLUP. You are formally invited to participate in this currently invite-only program where you earn points for your apps through completing challenges. Spend your XP on Xbox 360s, new Nokia Lumias and more.

Nokia Developer Ambassadorship

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I am officially announcing that I’ve joined Nokia as a Nokia Developer Ambassador! So, what does this mean for you?

If you are:

An experienced Windows Phone Developer (WPDev) with tons of published apps
Have dabbled in WPDev, but haven’t published yet
An experienced iOS or Android Developer with apps (published or not)
Just getting started on any platform and are thirsty for more
In school and don’t know your Int from your Long
You have great app ideas but don’t know a lick of code

…then you’re in luck. If you want to bring an app or an app idea to life, I am your man.

Resources, Resources, Resources!