Microsoft now lets you create Windows 10 apps without knowing a line of code

[Batu69]

Brings in untrained foot soldiers to bolster its app store

MICROSOFT HAS RELEASED a major update to the Windows App Studio which will allow users to become developers without a lick of code, and without going via Visual Studio.

The new release creates Windows Universal Apps, which can be run on any Windows device, using information and resources imported from elsewhere in what five or six years ago we would have called a 'mashup'.

Even the shopfront is taken care of, as the Studio package will also create screenshots to populate your entry in the Windows Store.

Also new is an 'immersive simulator' which will allow you to run your new app in full screen, without leaving the safety of the development environment.

A big jump is the ability to manage the contents of an app collection (that is to say the 'assets' of the app) without making an update to the app itself. This essentially means that there is now a portal to update content, without having to go back into the app itself, a universal content management system (CMS) if you will.

Live Tile support means that you can design an interactive icon for your app, for use in the Metro/Modern/Mobile/Tablet/Largely Disliked interface of the user's machine, adding value with aspects such as updates, latest photos or a headline.

Other features include improvements to theme and icon editors, improved sideloading support for Windows 10 apps, Hero Image Editing, better visual features for an app's UI, early support for Windows 10 IoT, NuGet Packages and Github containing libraries and sample apps.

Anyone who built an app in Windows 8.1 can convert it to a Universal app quickly and easily within App Studio with a single click of the 'Convert' button.

Having, let's say, misjudged the popularity of its new interface in Windows 8, Microsoft is keen not to make the same mistakes again. As such, it has made significant in-roads into ensuring that the app ecosystem is available to as many people as possible.

This will become increasingly important with the release of Windows 10 Mobile, where the platform will have some serious catching up to do to compete with the one million plus apps in both the Apple and Android stores.

Source