Updating apps in the Store for Windows Phone 8
[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]
After your app is published, it appears in the Store catalog. Consumers can buy and download your app from a centralized location and payments are automatically handled for you.
If you make changes to your app, and you want to release the new version to users, keep in mind the following:
Your app must be certified again.
Your users are notified automatically that there is an update available.
You cannot charge users for updates. Updates are free to users.
You can update your app at any time using your Dev Center dashboard. For more information, see Guidance for app management for Windows Phone.
This topic contains the following sections.
Updating apps and isolated storage
When you update your app, any data in the isolated storage is preserved. However, data in the isolated storage is deleted if the user uninstalls and then reinstalls your app. For more information, see Data for Windows Phone 8.
Updating app titles
If you change the app title or tile background image, and the user updates your app, the changes are not made automatically. You can try the following:
Send a push notification to update the app title and background image on the tile pinned to the Start screen.
If it is not important to preserve any stored data or settings, the user can uninstall and then reinstall your app.
Updating version numbers
App version numbers consist of major, minor, build, and revision components. The format of the version number is major.minor.build.revision, for example 2.1.0.0. The version number of your app is stored both in your app and in the Store. However, the Store only keeps track of the major and minor components of an app’s version number.
Version numbers in the app
The version number of your app is stored in the manifest file. For more information, see App manifest file for Windows Phone 8.
Note
The Store does not read the app version information from the manifest file.
The following is an example of the start <App> tag of the manifest file:
<App
ProductID="{}" Title="YOURTITLE" RuntimeType="WindowsPhone" Version="1.0.0.0" Genre="apps.normal" Author="AUTHOR" Description="DESCRIPTION" Publisher="PUBLISHER"
>
Version numbers in Windows Phone Store
When you submit your app for certification, you must provide the version number for your app. The version number that you provide here is the only version number tracked by the Store. Users see this version number when browsing the app catalog.
Note
The version number that you submit to the Store must match the version number stored in your app.