This post documents an issue I have been getting with the uploading of Apps to the Windows Store.
1. WACK process completes successfully:
Upload in progress:
Produces this error:
NB I am using the latest builds of Windows and Visual Studio available.
If anyone else is getting this issue please add a note in the comments below.
Thanks.
With the announcement of BUILD 2012 I thought I would put together a list of tips – mainly aimed at fellow developers from the UK but there may be something here for everyone!
If you are on a tight budget and can book early try the Homestead Suites. It is next to the Microsoft Campus and very reasonably priced (especially if you can book for a week).
I have also stayed at the Extended Stay America – there are a couple within a short drive of the Campus, again cheaper if you stay for at least 7 days.
Both the above are self catering and include a basic Kitchen complete with utensils/cutlery/fridge/hob & cooker (and WiFi access).
NB Don’t be tempted to go ‘real cheap’ and stay too far away from Redmond / BelleVue. The traffic gets really bad around Seattle and you may live to regret it – especially if you are a little jet lagged! (I speak from experience!)
Try and find a friendly Softee to show you around. I have been lucky in the past and have seen a few ‘geek treasures’ that I would never have found (or had access to) myself.
(Work in Progress)
Just documenting an issue I have been having this morning when firing up the Windows 8 Store.
At first I get the familiar splash screen: “Getting the store ready for you”
But then after a few more seconds I am presented with “This might take a while longer”:
Before finally being hit with “We weren’t able to connect with the store”:
This looks to be some sort of connectivity issue but the rest of the internet seems to be behaving itself.
Is anyone else experiencing the same issue or have an explanation?
I am based in the UK.
(Needless to say I have already tried this several times this morning after ‘waiting a few minutes’)
Gives an answer to the question: How / Why was your App launched?
Options:
Launch | launch [0]
The user launched the app or tapped a content tile.
Search | search [1]
The user wants to search with the app.
The app is activated as a target for share operations.
An app launched a file whose file type this app is registered to handle.
An app launched a URL whose protocol this app is registered to handle.
The user wants to pick files or folders that are provided by the app.
The user wants to save a file and selected the app as the location.
The user wants to save a file that the app provides content management for.
The user wants to pick contacts.
The app handles AutoPlay.
The app handles print tasks.
The app captures photos or video from an attached camera.
“High level breakdown of disciplines required for this exam”
Retrieve data remotely.
(work in progress)
When it comes to submitting your Windows 8 Apps there is quite a list of marketing graphics that you can submit:
Click the image to Enlarge
The only mandatory one is the 416×180. It occurred to me that this size would be great on a T-Shirt. Happily Vistaprint in the UK are currently doing an offer to get a T printed for 99p Plus P&P (So if nothing else check out the virtual T-Shirt design for free! )
The next step involves being seen with your T Shirt. I was lucky enough to be offered the chance to go on the ‘Gadget Show Tech tour of London’ yesterday and the crew were a really friendly bunch (Polly Woodward & Jason Bradbury)
(Look out for me wearing the shirt on the Gadget Show later this Summer*)
The Tile Browser App for windows 8 can be downloaded here (it is a free app)
http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/live-tile-browser/80510642-a45a-4562-a1d6-8dca800a62f6
* Or at the very least the back of my head …
So much for the 99p T-Shirt:
One of the most popular Apps on Windows phone now comes to Windows 8 …
Making striking use of the unique opportunities of the Windows 8 interface one of this Apps nicest features is enabling users to choose not only the style of their Live Tiles but also the sporting content :
Top Sports
Cricket
Football
Tennis
Boxing
Rugby Union
Rugby League
Motorsports
The next release of “Live Tile Sport” will be a free upgrade enabling an additional 8 sporting categories along with the option to choose which categories are of interest as well as also where they are positioned in the panorama.).
Policy
This App does not collect, store or share any personal information, or anything related to your device. We do not collect any statistics, trends or track user movements.
The app provides share functionality that allows you to share newsworthy information with any third party application. The App allows you to open Web URLs from the application. The internet urls might be saved by the web browser on your device. For further information on this consult your web browsers own documentation.
NB This Privacy policy covers your use any app from “Web Surfaces” or “JEDI Walker”.
When submitting an App to the Windows 8 store I am repeatedly getting an error that relates to the failure of the native image generator.
There are a number of suggestions around this issue in this article which having worked through, and submitted an issue via Connect (see here) I have finally implemented the suggested workaround:
As a last resort, you can disable automatic native image generation for your app by including a file that is named "nongen.txt" in your app package. Be aware that doing this may adversely affect startup and execution times for your app. Make sure that you file a Connect bug before you take this step.
This then resulted in an overall WACK pass:
NB The full failure report looks like this:
Overall result: FAILED
Crashes and hangs test
App launch tests
Crashes and hangs
App manifest compliance test
App manifest
Windows security features test
Binary analyzer
Supported Metro style API test
Supported APIs
Performance test
Bytecode generation
Performance launch
Error Found: The performance launch test collected the following results:.
Impact if not fixed: Application launch time is important for creating a fast and fluid experience for the user. This app will not be accepted by the Windows Store.
How to fix: You should ensure that your app’s performance is consistent across different machine configurations and does not exceed the minimum requirements or it will potentially fail during Windows store onboarding. The informational metrics can provide insight into areas that could help improve your app’s performance, but do not impact your apps acceptance by the Windows Store. See link below for more information:
Performance Best Practices
Performance suspend
App manifest resources test
App resources validation
Debug configuration test
Debug configuration
File encoding
UTF-8 file encoding
After around 10 days in the submission process my first Windows 8 App has failed with the following report:
6.11 The app’s category and subcategory must correspond to the character or purpose of your app
Presently the Apps’ category and sub-category are:
Which is as I intended (there is no sub category for ‘Productivity’ Apps).
My thinking was that this App helps you be more productive with your Windows Phone and I must admit, looking at the other options this still looks to be the best in my opinion. It is a shame that there was not a sentence indicating the thinking behind the reason for failure or perhaps a suggestion as to where Microsoft thinks my App should live?
I found it a little disappointing that any other ‘issues’ with the App are not listed (or alternatively there is a section that states that ‘no other issues were found’) as this would be useful as well as giving us an indication of whether this process is ‘fail at the first hurdle’ or is more comprehensive.
"Hard Work, Persistence & Passion" 