The traditional ways of doing it are:

(i) to create an object of a class, instantiate it and assign values to the object inside the method and then return the object from the method, or

(ii) to assign values to multiple global variables inside the method and then access them elsewhere, or

(iii) to use an out parameter to return the updated value back to the calling method, or

(iv) to use a ref parameter to modify the referenced parameter directly from inside the called method.

Well, there is another lesser-known way in .Net that allows you to return multiple values from a method without having to create an object or multiple variables, it is a feature called Tuple.

Here is some sample code in C# that shows you how to create and use a Tuple to return multiple values from a method:

public Tuple<int, string, string> GetEmployee()
{

    int employeeId = 23;

    string firstName = "John";

    string lastName = "Doe";

    //Create a tuple and return

    return Tuple.Create(employeeId, firstName, lastName);
}

Via: http://paraswadehra.blogspot.com/2014/08/xamarin-forms-shared-project-template-error.html

For example, if you are trying to fetch the geolocation of a user, that means you are missing the ID_CAP_LOCATION capability. If you are coding a Windows Phone app, you need to open WMAppManifest.xml file in the designer in Visual Studio and then go to the Capabilities tab and select the checkbox next to ID_CAP_LOCATION.

As you can see, getting featured in the Windows Phone Store really helps drive downloads for your app. The sustained organic growth period you see above is actually due to Dictionary winning first place in the Best Educational App category of the first-ever Windows Phone App Awards, beating competition from Microsoft and other competitors.

Now, let's take a look at SketchPad:

 

Again, the effect of getting featured in the Windows Phone Store clearly shows its benefits. I've been fortunate enough to have SketchPad featured in different countries across the world several times now.

Let's take a look at Unit Converter:

 

This chart shows you the bumps received in the download count just by updating the app to include new features and functionality. Users really like seeing their feedback being incorporated in the app.

Here's Events For Me:

 

This chart not only shows you the benefit of getting featured in the Windows Phone Store, but also getting a good review on WP Central. In this case, the WP Central review drove the most downloads in 1 day to the Events For Me app.

I've saved the best for the last though, be prepared to be flabbergasted, as I show you The DVLUP Effect. Here's a look at the downloads for my Chess game

 

And here's the interesting part. See that red circle with a minor bump on the road? That is what you see in the chart below.

 

This shows you how using campaigns from DVLUP, I was able to achieve The DVLUP Effect which dwarfed downloads from any other promotions. Soon after launch, in early 2012, the Chess game also won 1st place in Microsoft's You've Got Game competition.

Windows Phone Store placements and DVLUP Campaigns have been a god given gift for an indie developer like myself.

In Part 1 of this blog series, I shared the news about my apps hitting 1 Million downloads on Windows Phone and introduced you to my apps.
In Part 3 of this blog series, I will talk about mistakes made and lessons learned.
In Part 4 of this blog series, I will talk about monetization and promotion mechanisms I've used over the years and which ones have worked better than the others.

Cheers, 

This is the first post in a series of blog posts I will be writing about my lessons learned, mistakes made, best practices, monetization and promotion practices, among other things, so keep an eye out!

I've been able to get to this special landmark a few days before 3 year anniversary of my first app launching on Windows Phone.

I would love to share my development experience with you all, in hopes of helping all aspiring app developers out there.

My first app (or rather a game), Tic Tac Toe,  launched in the store on 25-Mar-2011. I wrote this as a personal learning experience on Windows Phone. I included ads in the game and I soon started seeing some ad revenue trickling in. I used to get excited when I made 5c/day in ad revenue in early days - simply because it meant someone out there downloaded my game and was playing it. Soon I saw that number climbing up, 10c/day, 25c/day and soon I was seeing $1/day in ad revenue coming in.

By then I had already launched a couple more apps in the Windows Phone store, Transit Maps USA and Dictionary, the first Dictionary app on Windows Phone. It got featured in the Windows Phone Store and I immediately saw the effect of that as to the increase in my downloads and ad revenue. And since then I haven't looked back and launched new apps constantly on the platform, though in the last year I have been focused on updating my existing apps with new features rather than creating new apps, given the time constraints as
this is a hobby outside of my job. I've been able to help create Windows Phone apps for some big name apps on the store as well along the way.

Given that I was developing apps at a rapid pace for the platform, I got accepted to receive early access to the Windows Phone Mango (WP 7.5) update in 2011, before it launched and subsequently to Windows Phone Apollo (WP 8) in 2012, as well.


My current apps on the Windows Phone platform include, in chronological release order:

• Tic Tac Toe, released Mar-2011
• Transit Maps USA (and Transit Maps Free), released Apr-2011
• Dictionary, released May-2011
• Unit Converter, released Jun-2011
• Dots, released Jun-2011
• NPR RSS Reader (originally called NPR News), released, Jul-2011
• SketchPad, released Jul-2011
• IP Finder, released Dec-2011
• Chess, released Jan-2012
• SF Films, Jul-2012
• Events For Me, released Dec-2012
• Unit Converter Pro, released Jan-2013

As you will see from the list above, I launched a majority of my apps in 2011 and then focused on maintaining and updating those apps for the most part with a few other apps launching in 2012 and 2013. I have several unfinished projects that I need to find time to finish and
polish to publish them in the store. I also have a wish list of many more apps that I want to develop.

When Windows 8 was announced, I ported my Unit Converter and Tic Tac Toe apps to that platform as well and saw some good download numbers for both of these apps.

In Part 2 of this blog series, posted on my personal blog, I've provided a detailed breakdown of my app statistics and the download performance associated with major releases, updates and promotions.
In Part 3 of this blog series, posted on my personal blog, I will talk about mistakes made and lessons learned.
In Part 4 of this blog series, posted on my personal blog, I will talk about monetization and promotion mechanisms I've used over the years and which ones have worked better than the others.

Cheers,
Paras Wadehra
Do you DVLUP?
Twitter: @ParasWadehra
FB Group: http://bit.ly/WinPhoneDev
My WP Apps

 


See you there,
Paras Wadehra
Do you DVLUP?
Twitter: @ParasWadehra
FB Group: http://bit.ly/WinPhoneDev
My WP Apps

For detailed terms and conditions visit http://paraswadehra.blogspot.com/2014/02/windows-phone-app-promotion.html

Cheers,
Paras Wadehra
Nokia Developer Ambassador
INETA Community Champion
Twitter: @ParasWadehra
FB Group: http://bit.ly/WinPhoneDev
Great WP Apps