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Microsoft Discusses Windows Store App Submissions

Feb. 14, 2012 Paul Thurrott | Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows

In a new post to the Windows Store for developers blog this week, Microsoft's Jonathan Garriques discusses the process developers will undergo when they submit new Windows 8 Metro-style apps to the Windows Store. According to  Garriques, the process is designed to be as simple, transparent, and predictable as possible.

In this way, the process differs wildly from the unpredictable and opaque system that Apple developers face. And that's by design: Garriques says that Microsoft listened to a diverse cross-section of developers to ensure that its own approach was superior.

"We broke down the submission process into two phases," he writes in the Windows Store for developers post. "At first, the developer is in the driver's seat, learning, submitting, and reviewing their own data, working at their own pace. However, once you submit the app for certification, you are in the passenger seat, tracking the progress of the app, but unable to affect that progress or outcome in the same way as before. We needed a plan to increase confidence in this second phase, while transparently tracking the status of the app during the certification process."

One of the big design decisions Microsoft made in response to developer feedback was to make it easy for them to visit the developer portal before they even started working on an app. That's because the submission process often inspires developers to make changes to their apps. This system also allows developers to ensure that their app name is unique and untaken before developer starts, and lets them reserve their name in advance.

Access to this portal is of course available directly in Visual Studio 11, the tool developers use to create Windows 8 apps.

"We felt that it was important to be transparent and upfront about the entire process of submitting to the Store, setting expectations visually that there are multiple concepts to cover, and including rough estimates of about how long each step might take," Garriques notes.

Obviously, the Windows 8 app submission process won't be of direct interest to most Windows users or to readers of this site. But I think it's telling that in "reimagining Windows" as thoroughly as Microsoft is doing in this release, it's also reimagined such a core, if behind-the-scenes, part of the Windows 8 story.

I'd imagine that Microsoft's couple of years of experience with the Windows Phone Marketplace helped guide its decision making as well, though Garriques makes no mention of that.

Check out the original post for the full details, of course.

Discuss this Article 9

c3141wss
on Feb 14, 2012
This is unacceptable. I refuse to let Microsoft or anyone else dictate what programs I can and cannot distribute and what I can and cannot install on my own computer. Walled garden approaches have nothing to do with security but are instead a way for Microsoft to skim the top off of the revenues of software developers (who are the people that made Microsoft successful in the first place). If Microsoft is truly concerned about security, and insists that the "Walled Garden" approach is only for security, then they should drop all fees from the app store and put their money where their mouth is. The most dangerous aspect of this is the potential for censorship. Suppose someone releases a Metro app dealing with subjects like Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama. Now comes China and tells Microsoft that we demand that you remove this application and censor it. By creating both the ability to censor applications and the ability to remove applications after they have already been installed, Microsoft is enabling governments that abuse human rights to engage in censorship. It has already happened with Apple (http://www.pcworld.com/article/185604/apple_censors_dalai_lama_iphone_ap...); most applications dealing with the Dalai Lama or any subject that goes against Chinese propaganda is blocked in China. Microsoft would be, in effect, collaborating with despots and human rights abusers.
47u2caryj
on Feb 15, 2012
@Brian Hill, I understand what you are saying however I think classifying this as a way to skim off the top is simplified. There is no single solution, however, I think lowering the "sales tax" as application sales reach a certain threshold reflects both a strategic move and Microsoft's true cost. Microsoft employees will need to spend time reviewing submissions and these employees and the infrastructure to distribute, maintain, and resolve disputes over these applications cost time and money. This money has to come from somewhere and charging the developers for the ability to have their applications seen by hundreds of millions of people is no different than a retailer being charged for their store space. The other option to make up the money would be to "charge" the end user with higher app prices, more advertisements, or higher OS cost. I would say that all of these options are in greater conflict with Microsoft's goal of helping our customers (I would substitute "end user") realize their full potential.
yoshipod (not verified)
on Feb 15, 2012
This is all well and good now, but I have a feeling that once developers start submitting apps in any sort of mass, Microsoft will have to deal with the same problems that Apple does, and that the transparent process, may not be so transparent.
c3141wss
on Feb 15, 2012
"Microsoft employees will need to spend time reviewing submissions and these employees and the infrastructure to distribute, maintain, and resolve disputes over these applications cost time and money." I don't need Microsoft approving everything I install on my computer and every program that I distribute. That's the big problem. Microsoft will have the ability to engage in mass censorship and to also remove apps from your computer without your consent. Microsoft's intentions here are irrelevant. They are building a system in which governments and other large corporations can coerce them into censorship. Will they allow BitTorrent applications (there are many legitimate uses for BitTorrent) or will they block them at the behest of the MAFIAA? Will they allow applications that contain information on say, the Chinese dissident movement without any kind of censorship anywhere? Will they allow applications that depict Mohammed or will they censor that too? Games that parody religion? Political satire? The potential for abuse is just too great. Microsoft is under the (arguably laughable) belief that they are going to phase out the desktop across the board (more than likely, if they try this, people will just move to Mac or to Linux). According to them, the desktop is legacy. How long until everything is Metro and then Windows is completely locked down? "This money has to come from somewhere and charging the developers for the ability to have their applications seen by hundreds of millions of people is no different than a retailer being charged for their store space." It is different. I can choose to sell my product in a different store or to sell it myself. With Metro, you are forced to use Microsoft's store.
KingBuzzo
on Feb 15, 2012
They can do whatever they want. They have shareholders to answer to (not you) and if they want to market their product in every country then they need to adhere to their laws. If they can wall-out crApplications and malware all-the-better for the platform and the consumer. Get off your high-horse or brush up on your Linus skills to save the world...
c3141wss
on Feb 15, 2012
To be blunt, I don't care about about Microsoft's shareholders. The old "we have an obligation to the shareholders" excuse is getting old; that's what every corporation says when they screw people over as if , somehow, personal profit is a justification for committing crimes or other malfeasances (i.e assisting China in committing crimes against humanity and suppressing dissent). Furthermore, the notion that large corporations care about their shareholders is pure fiction (the only time they "care" about shareholders is when they need to justify morally bankrupt actions and even then, it's false concern) Corporate board members and executives care about nothing but themselves and they will screw over anyone to enrich their own pocket books (what other job can you cause a company to go under and then walk away with a bonus? e.g Lehman Brothers). The US government lacks a spine to reign in Ballmer (bought and paid for) but I have hopes for the EU (if, because nothing else, they hate US corporations). "Get off your high-horse or brush up on your Linus skills to save the world..." My "Linus" (sic) skills are fine. I'd rather keep using Windows because right *now*, with Windows 7, I find it to be a superior platform. I'd like to keep using Windows but if Microsoft continues down this self-destructive path, I'll have no choice but to switch because I value my freedom over some false sense of security (as a wise man once said : Those that would trade liberty for security deserve neither).
richv1
on Feb 16, 2012
I have nothing against app stores, except when they're mandatory. A nice, easy, (relatively) safe place for the masses to get apps is a great idea. And it does cost money to run a store, so the app store owner should get a cut. But if some individual writes a useful little app, but doesn't want to go through the hassle of submitting it to a store, they should still be able to give it to me directly. Given the choice between getting equivalent apps from a store or directly from someone on the internet, I would choose the app store. But that choice should be mine, not Microsoft, Apple, etc.
trooper11
on Feb 16, 2012
All this talk about choice is fine, but I think some are forgetting that you will in fact have a choice when it comes to Windows 8 and using the app store. All this talk about being forced to use the app market would only apply to ARM based devices. x86 based devices offer all the same methods of app development/deployment that we are use to with windows. So you really do get a choice in the matter. If you don't mind the walled off garden and you like some of the pluses an arm platform brings, then you can do that. If, however, you don't like that being your only option for getting apps, then get an x86 device. Looking at just arm devices, how is this any different from Android or IOS offerings? To single MS out on that point is completely unfair. If you want true freedom to load whatever apps you want on an Android or IOS device, you have to root/jailbreak them. They both offer a marketplace as the sole source for apps officially. Consider an arm based Win8 device just as you would Android or IOS. If you want to use it outside of the official marketplace, then you'll need some sort of root/jailbreak function.
trooper11
on Feb 16, 2012
All this talk about choice is fine, but I think some are forgetting that you will in fact have a choice when it comes to Windows 8 and using the app store. All this talk about being forced to use the app market would only apply to ARM based devices. x86 based devices offer all the same methods of app development/deployment that we are use to with windows. So you really do get a choice in the matter. If you don't mind the walled off garden and you like some of the pluses an arm platform brings, then you can do that. If, however, you don't like that being your only option for getting apps, then get an x86 device. Looking at just arm devices, how is this any different from Android or IOS offerings? To single MS out on that point is completely unfair. If you want true freedom to load whatever apps you want on an Android or IOS device, you have to root/jailbreak them. They both offer a marketplace as the sole source for apps officially. Consider an arm based Win8 device just as you would Android or IOS. If you want to use it outside of the official marketplace, then you'll need some sort of root/jailbreak function.

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