Updating Windows Store Apps for Windows 8.1

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I’ve recently updated four of the apps that I had published for Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and it was really easy.  For each of these apps, my main goal was to make them work in the new 500px minimum width and possibly take advantage of some of the new APIs.  The process to update them took about a half hour for each of the apps and each of the app updates passed certification in about two days.

Architecture

Screen shot 1A free app that lets you browse and discover architectural projects around the world from the Urbarama.com website.

  • Enabled 500px minimum width.
  • Enabled updated Bing Maps control.
  • Added large live tile.

Available for free in the Windows Store

Tile Charts

Screen shot 1A free app (formerly $1.49 with a free trial) that lets you pin charts to your start screen that are linked to Excel spreadsheets.

  • Enabled 500px minimum width.
  • Added large live tile.

Available for free in the Windows Store

Favorite Documents

Screen shot 1A $1.49 app (with free trial) to pin any document (like Word, Excel, Illustrator, Photoshop etc.) to your start screen.

  • Enabled 500px minimum width.
  • Added launcher options to enable better smoother document launching.

Available for $1.49 with free trial in the Windows Store

Zoetrope

Screen shot 1A free app to easily create movies from photos.  The easiest way to create a video is to select photos in the new Windows 8.1 Photos app and use the share charm to share it with the Zoetrope app.  I’ve done a bit more work to take advantage of the new features in Windows 8.1, especially the new feature where apps can span multiple views on multiple monitors – that update work took a few days.

  • Enabled 500px minimum width.
  • Added large live tile.
  • Enabled multiple views.

Available for free in the Windows Store

Updating your Windows 8 apps to Windows 8.1 is really easy – in many cases it can be as simple as opening the app solution in Visual Studio 2013, selecting the option to retarget the app to Windows 8.1, rebuild the app, and submit it to the Windows Store (after testing of course).

I’d love to hear how your app retargeting went – what challenges did you face?