The Windows Blog

Use your HTML5 skills, port your PhoneGap app to Windows Phone, and win prizes

JC Cimetiere — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:09:00 GMT

Many of you have heard about PhoneGap (aka Apache Cordova), the popular open source framework you can use to create mobile apps using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. PhoneGap has supported the Windows Phone platform since Windows Phone 7.5, and had a major update to support new capabilities in Windows Phone 8, including Internet Explorer 10.
Today, we’re launching a Porting Challenge and inviting developers who have used PhoneGap to publish apps in other stores – for example, Apple iTunes, Google Play, Blackberry World, Bada, Symbian, or Palm OS – to take any of their existing PhoneGap apps, published in any store, and port it to Windows Phone 8, like the Untappd app recently ported to Windows Phone 8.

Members of a panel selected from Microsoft, the Adobe PhoneGap team, and industry experts will choose 20 winners, based on apps that are:

Original
Innovative
Easy to use
Engaging and visually appealing to the user

The panel will pick 3 grand prize winners who each will receive a Windows Phone 8 and a Surface Pro, and 17 first prize winners who each will receive a Windows Phone 8. All winning apps will be evaluated for featured slots in the Windows Phone Store.

The challenge starts today, May 20, 2013. You have through June 30, 2013, to submit your app for this porting challenge. Winners will be announced July 19, 2013, at the PhoneGap Day event in Portland, Oregon. The challenge is open to developers in all countries/regions where Windows Phone Dev Center registration is available. Read the complete rules for all the details before you sign up at http://www.phonegapwpchallenge.com/.

Whether you’re a seasoned PhoneGap developer new to Windows Phone, or if you’re new to PhoneGap, I encourage you check the pointers on how to get started on the challenge site: http://www.phonegapwpchallenge.com/Home/Resources
We have a 5-minute video tutorial that shows you how to set up PhoneGap with Visual Studio, and a few other detailed tutorials. We’ve also collected tips & tricks to adapt WebKit-optimized HTML5 code to Internet Explorer 10, and how to give your app UI a Windows Phone look and feel.

If you’re curious to see examples of published Windows Phone apps that were built using the PhoneGap framework, head over to the PhoneGap website to browse their Windows Phone app gallery.

Ready, set, go!

JC Cimetiere
@jccim

Love magazines? Get a $50 credit from Zinio for your Nokia Lumia

Michael Stroh — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:16:23 GMT

The popular digital magazine app Zinio arrived in the Windows Phone Store this week as an exclusive for Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 models. (Miss it? You can grab it here.) It’s a beautifully-designed app that should please any magazine junkie.

But it gets better: To celebrate their debut, Zinio is also offering a $50 magazine credit to jump start your library. Click here to claim the credit. The deal ends June 30.

Zinio has an impressive stable of publications to pick from—everything from mainstream titles like The Economist, Esquire, and Rolling Stone to niche offerings such as Poker Player and Simply Crochet. Reader-friendly features of the official Windows Phone app include the ability to pull articles from multiple sources into your own customized reading list and read magazines offline. Zinio also serves up free articles each day from a selection of top-drawer titles. Check it out and let me know what you think.

XAudio2 Performance and Battery Considerations for Windows Phone 8

Adam Denning — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:50:31 GMT

This blog post was authored by Joao Lucas Guberman Raza, a program manager on the Windows Phone team.

- Adam

In this post we cover important information for Windows Phone 8 developers who use the XAudio2 APIs, including best practices for battery performance. XAudio2 is a high-performance audio API available in Windows 8, Xbox 360, and Windows Phone 8. An app developer can use XAudio2 to create audio graphs in which they can treat each audio source in the graph as a distinct “voice.” The developer can apply different effects to each of the “voices.”

In Windows Phone 8, the XAudio2 engine must be aligned with the life cycle of the app. This means that if an app is suspended, the app that’s using XAudio2 must force the XAudio2 engine to stop. When the app resumes/rehydrates, if it is designed to resume sounds using XAudio2, it must restart the XAudio2 engine. Significant battery drain can occur if an app doesn’t stop the XAudio2 engine when the app is suspended, and the engine continues to run.

To avoid this scenario, an app must call IXAudio2::StopEngine when the app is suspended as described in the Native audio APIs for Windows Phone 8. When the app resumes, it should call IXAudio2::StartEngine. For Silverlight and Direct3D with XAML apps, the suspend/resume APIs are the Suspended and Activated events. For Direct3D native-only apps, the suspend/resume APIs are the Suspending and CoreView Resuming events.

The following code examples show you how you can do this in a pure native Direct3D app.

First create the XAudio2 object, which handles the XAudio2 sound APIs.
C++
1. IXAudio2* pXAudio = NULL ;
3. if( FAILED(XAudio2Create(&pXAudio, 0, XAUDIO2_DEFAULT_PROCESSOR) ) )
4. return false ;
6. if ( FAILED(pXAudio->CreateMasteringVoice( &pMasterVoice ) ) )
7. return false;
Then, on the suspending/resume events, set up the XAudio2 object to call StopEngine and then StartEngine. In the following example, we use the default events in the Windows Phone 8 SDK template for Direct3D native-only apps.
C++
1. void WindowsApp::Initialize(CoreApplicationView^ applicationView)
2. {
3. applicationView->Activated +=
4. ref new TypedEventHandler<CoreApplicationView^, IActivatedEventArgs^>(this, &WindowsApp::OnActivated);
6. CoreApplication::Suspending +=
7. ref new EventHandler<SuspendingEventArgs^>(this, &WindowsApp::OnSuspending);
9. CoreApplication::Resuming +=
10. ref new EventHandler<Platform::Object^>(this, &WindowsApp::OnResuming);
11. }
13. void WindowsApp::OnSuspending(Platform::Object^ sender, SuspendingEventArgs^ args)
14. {
15. pXAudio->StopEngine() ;
16. }
18. void WindowsApp::OnResuming(Platform::Object^ sender, Platform::Object^ args)
19. {
20. pXAudio->StartEngine() ;
21. }

With these steps, you can design your app to follow best practices for battery consumption when you use the XAudio2 APIs. It’s important to note that this is one of many best practices you can use in your app. To learn more, see also local folder best practices for Windows Phone, localization best practices for Windows Phone, and background agent best practices for Windows Phone.

Tips to grow your app revenue through in-app purchase

Bernardo Zamora — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:28:18 GMT

Your Windows Phone 8 app presents three potential sources of revenue: app sales, in-app advertisement, and in-app purchases.

In a previous blog post I wrote about what you can sell in your Windows Phone 8 app by adding in-app purchase. You can:

Sell digital items.
Offer consumables (items that are used a set number of times per purchase) and durables (items purchased and then owned by the buyer).
Extend app features: add game levels, app features, and game currency, for example.

Today, I want to share recommendations and guidance to optimize the experience and effectiveness of in-app purchase in your Windows Phone app.

In-app purchase trends in the Windows Phone store

In-app purchase was added with the launch of Windows Phone 8 as a way to expand the value of apps and offer the possibility of additional revenue. It represents a growing revenue source in the Windows Phone Store: already 40% of the top 15 highest-grossing developers have apps that use in-app purchase.

Consumer adoption of in-app purchase varies by market, depending on regional trends, consumer preferences, and other regional differences. Central Europe, China, France, Middle East and United States are the markets where consumers purchased most in-app items, as a percentage of app downloads, compared to other markets.

In-app items are used in all categories of Windows Phone 8 apps in the Store. The categories with highest use of in-app purchase are Games, Tools and Productivity and Books & Reference. So in-app purchase can be used in all types of apps.

Use of in-app purchase by app category

Insight from the apps with highest in-app revenue

We analyzed the 30 apps and games with the highest in-app purchase revenue in the Windows Phone Store, and found some interesting trends, common characteristics, and best practices. Here’s what we discovered.

In-app purchase can add value to both games and non-game apps: the top grossing list includes 20 games (shooters, puzzles, racing, family, and other types of games) as well as 10 non-game apps (audio book, health/fitness, tools/productivity, navigation, and sports).

Start with a great app: All these top 30 apps are high quality, engaging apps with beautiful graphics and compelling sounds and music. All apps have 4-star ratings or higher, and user comments posted in the Store show that users love these apps, and therefore are willing to purchase the in-app items to enhance their experience. All these apps are easy to use and intuitive.

Use the ‘freemium’ business model: Most of these apps are free and offer in-app purchase extends the value of the app (90% of the apps are free and 10% are available in a paid version only). There are a few apps that are not free, and these apps are from developers with a brand name strong enough that users will know the quality or utility of the app. Very few of the apps, less than 5, use advertisement in the apps: most of these top developers focus only on in-app purchase to generate revenue.

Offer value even without purchase, and extend the app through in-app purchase: 28 of the 30 apps are useful even without in-app purchase. The apps provide great value even if no in-app purchase is used. In-app purchase is used to improve the app experience:

The games use in-app consumables to offer game currency, which in turn is used to purchase items in the game. Users can earn this currency through gameplay, or accelerate gameplay through purchase.
Non-games offer content through consumables and durables (audio books, book chapters, navigation maps, more sounds) or offer additional features through durable in-app purchase (for example additional features like online backup).
Three of the five apps that have ads use in-app purchase as an option for the user to remove the ads.
Two apps use in-app purchase to unlock the full version or new levels. These apps require in-app purchase to provide value beyond the introductory level or content.

Integrate in-app purchase seamlessly: The app developers use in-app purchase as a natural extension of the app, not as an afterthought. When using these apps, users feel that they are getting a significant additional value of value through the in-app purchase, and don’t feel forced to buy the app items to be able to use the app. In-app purchase is shown on simple, clear screens that show the value of what is being purchased, and frequently offer many options so the user can choose the best one for their budget and needs.

Make the app available also on Windows Phone 7: In-app purchase is only available on Windows Phone 8, so many of these top apps have created a XAP for Windows Phone 7 and a XAP for Windows Phone 8, to offer the app on Windows Phone 7:

10 of these apps are available for free on Windows Phone 7, providing the same functionality as the Windows Phone 8 versions, without in-app purchase. A few of these apps added mobile ads to provide ad revenue in place of the in-app revenue.
5 of these apps have a paid Windows Phone 7 version that offers the capabilities of the Windows Phone 8 version with all the in-app purchases.

Rebellion: Dredd vs Zombies and Guns 4 Hire

I interviewed Chris Kingsley, CTO of Rebellion, to understand more about their Windows Phone games and how they use in-app purchase. Rebellion has two shooter games on Windows Phone: Dredd vs Zombies and Guns 4 Hire. Both games use in-app purchase, and are among the highest grossing free Windows Phone games.

Rebellion makes games for many platforms, including PC games and Windows Store games. Chris shared with me the principles that he thinks have made in-app purchase successful in their Windows Phone games:

The game has to be great.
The game has to be designed with in-app purchase from the ground up.
The game has to balance free versus paid content.
Test, test, test, with as many people as possible.

Dredd vs Zombies was designed for in-app purchase from the ground up: the game is playable from beginning to end without in-app purchase. In-app purchase is used to sell credits that are used to purchase items that make the game more fun and which accelerate leveling up.

The items are designed so they genuinely feel like they are part of the game, and they provide a better play experience.

Dredd also offers items to try out, so players can get a feel for the game items that can be purchased. This also helps increase player engagement.

Guns 4 Hire offers a variety of in-app purchase items. The player has different options to choose from, and isn’t required to purchase to play the game.

The game shows the items for purchase in a very effective way: a large display for each item, a price, and a short and clear description of what you get with the purchase.

Chris from Rebellion mentioned they have another game coming up this month for Windows Phone – Zombie HQ – which builds on the shooter template by allowing players to customize their own HQ between missions.

Adding in-app purchase to your app

In-app purchase can enhance the app experience and increase your revenue, so if you think that you have a great app or game that is a good candidate for in-app purchase, add it today! Here’s how to get started:

Understand what can be sold through in-app purchase and how to add it.
Define how you would add in-app purchase to your Visual Studio project:
- Add it to an existing Windows Phone 7 project (through reflection) or create a new Windows Phone 8 project that uses in-app purchase natively.
- Offer a trial/paid version for Windows Phone 7 users.
Add the in-app purchase to your code.
Add the in-app purchase items through Dev Center.
Test using the different available testing techniques, and share the game with as many users as possible to polish the in-app purchase experience.
Publish your app in the Store!

Please post your feedback or questions about in-app purchase.

Now in the Store: Angry Birds Rio for Windows Phone

Michael Stroh — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:06:46 GMT

Here’s another classic Angry Birds title for your growing Windows Phone collection. As we previously hinted, Rovio’s Angry Birds Rio arrived this morning. The game works on both Windows Phone 7 and 8 devices. Price: $0.99.

In the game, the original Angry Birds have been caged up and shipped off to exotic Rio de Janeiro, where they eventually elude their captors and set out to rescue friends Blu and Jewel—two rare macaws you’ll recognize from the 2011 movie Rio. The scenery in the game is fresh and exciting, and the physics-based gameplay is as fun as ever—with 210 challenging levels and more than 40 bonus ones. Speaking of bonus: The Windows Phone 8 version of the game also includes Xbox LIVE achievements and leaderboards.

Buy it for Windows Phone 8

Buy it for Windows Phone 7.5

Buy' ngop! Bing adds Klingon to its popular Translator app for Windows Phone

Michael Stroh — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:33:13 GMT

Bing just added a new language to its highly rated Translator app that makes it a must-have for Star Trek fans headed to see Star Trek: Into Darkness this Thursday: Klingon. Download it to your Windows Phone communicator.

In what could be the biggest advance for the popular fictional language since the publication of 1984’s “The Klingon Dictionary,” the app lets you translate back and forth between Klingon and the 41 planetary tongues it supports. If you really want to test your skills, check out this post from Microsoft’s Translation team.

Klingons, as most fans of the Trek franchise know, are a fictional warrior race with famously boney foreheads (an anatomical quirk that presumably inspired the cringe-inducing Klingon curse: “Your mother has a smooth forehead!”). Early in the series, they were everybody's favorite villain. According to Guinness World Records, their throat-wrecking tongue is today the world’s most popular fictional spoken language (though it’s unclear how much competition it has).

Curious linguaphiles and younger Trek fans might be surprised by its origins and rich history.

Klingon got its start with some words and phrases made up by James Doohan, the actor who played Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in the original series. The occasion was 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” the first time the language was spoken in a movie. It was then fleshed out by UC Berkeley-trained linguist Marc Okrand, author of "The Klingon Dictionary,” which is still in print.

In the years since, as Wikipedia notes, several Shakespeare plays and parts of the Bible have been translated into Klingon. There’s even a nonprofit Klingon Language Institute, formed in 1992 to promote the study of “Klingon linguistics and culture.” The organization, which publishes its own quarterly academic journal registered with the Library of Congress, assisted Bing with its intergalactic upgrades to the app. As the LA Times reported yesterday, Bing also received help from Okrand and Microsoft engineer Eric Andeen, who is fluent in the language. (You knew there’d be someone here who was, right?)

Give it a shot and post a comment—Klingon only, please. And leave my mother’s forehead out of it, thanks.

(In case you’re wondering, the headline starts with the Klingon for “Great news!” As the screenshots above show, the Translator app is also handy for doing things like ordering Chinese for lunch.)

Nokia’s first metal Windows Phone arrives. Meet the sexy Lumia 925

Michael Stroh — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:36:06 GMT

Nokia’s design team is on fire lately. Just days after unveiling a sleek new addition to its Windows Phone 8 flagship line—the Verizon-bound Lumia 928—the company today took the wraps off another innovative new model at a highly-anticipated London press event today. (Watch the replay.)

There’s a lot to say about the new Lumia 925, but let’s start here: The first Windows Phone to incorporate aluminum into the design is something to hold and behold. The second thing to know is that the phone will come with the latest Windows Phone 8 update that adds FM radio support and a handful of other goodies—extras that existing Windows Phone 8 owners will ultimately be offered, too. (More on that in a moment.)

The Lumia 925, which also includes an advanced new camera, will debut in June on Europe’s Vodafone network, then head to China Mobile and China Unicom. It’s scheduled to launch on T-Mobile in the U.S. later this year, Nokia said. In Europe, the phone will cost around 469 euros before taxes and subsidies.

Why metal?

All of Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 models to date have been made with sturdy polycarbonate plastic. Adding metal to the mix opened up a new world of design possibilities for Nokia engineers. Metal supplies strength, saves weight, and allows designers to sculpt a thinner, more tapered edge. It also helps deliver better antenna performance, Nokia says. (Learn more about its construction.)

The new Lumia 925 sports many of the same specs and hardware that helped earn its sibling, the Lumia 920, Smartphone of the Year honors from Engadget this year. It has a 4.5-inch AMOLED WXGA touchscreen with curved Gorilla Glass 2, 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 16 GB of internal memory, and a beefy 2000 mAh battery. Nokia Lumia 925 will be available in white, grey and black matte. Wireless charging snap-on covers will come in white, black, yellow and red. Here’s a little peek at how it all comes together.

Introducing Nokia Smart Camera

But the real star of the show is the phone’s 8.7 megapixel PureView camera with optical image stabilization and dual LED flash. The Lumia 925 continues to evolve this critically-acclaimed camera and push the boundaries of what’s possible on a smartphone, thanks to its advanced new lens design and new imaging algorithms.

I never realized that a smartphone lens is actually a sandwich of glass, but the Lumia 925’s camera now includes a sixth physical lens—an industry first. This means the phone’s Carl Zeiss optics are able to take in five times more light than competing smartphones for sharp, naturally-colored images and 1080p HD video, even under challenging conditions. The video above offers a glimpse of how this new lens is constructed. The Lumia 925’s onboard imaging software algorithms have also been tweaked to help make the camera perform even better in low light, and to improve color reproduction and reduce noise in shots.

Another cool innovation in the Lumia 925 is its new Smart Camera feature, which captures ten 5-megapixel shots in a short burst and then lets you edit them using one-touch editing options like Best Shot, Action Shot, Change Faces, and Motion Focus. Check out the video below to see what I mean. Then head over to the Nokia Conversations blog, which has an even more detailed post today showing how Smart Camera works. Another nice touch: The Lumia 925 lets you set Nokia Smart Camera as your default camera interface so you can open straight to it just by pushing the camera button.

Nokia says Smart Camera—as well as the new under-the-hood imaging algorithms—will roll out to all its Lumia models with Windows Phone 8 as part of a future update the company is calling Nokia Lumia Amber.

Windows Phone 8 update coming this summer

Speaking of updates. As I mentioned earlier, the Lumia 925 comes with the latest update to the Windows Phone 8 operating system that includes a small number of improvements and upgrades. (It’s similar in size to the one we delivered earlier this year, which brought new Wi-Fi and messaging improvements like the ability to text a reply to an incoming call.)

The new update, which is expected to start rolling out to existing Windows Phone 8 phones later this summer, brings back support for FM radio (we heard you!) and makes the Data Sense feature of Windows Phone 8 available for more carriers to offer. The update also makes it easier to select, download, and pin tunes in Xbox Music and improves the accuracy of song info and other metadata—something I know music fans will appreciate. (FM Radio and Data Sense availability depend on your phone model and carrier.)

The update includes hundreds of other small quality improvements. One final one worth highlighting, as we announced earlier, is that the update also ensures Windows Phone continues to work with Google services by adding support for the company’s newest sync protocols—CalDAV and CardDAV.

Make sure to check out Nokia’s official blog for more coverage and photos of the new Lumia 925.

Latest Windows Phone app submission improvements

Rushmi Malaviarachchi — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:12:43 GMT

As Todd mentioned in his post last week, I’d like to share some details about the latest improvements we’ve made to Dev Center to address your feedback.

Multiple XAP management during app submission

As more developers update their apps to take advantage of new Windows Phone 8 functionality, managing multiple XAP files for a single app becomes an increasingly common scenario. Many apps have different XAPs for Windows Phone 7.x and Windows Phone 8.0. Dev Center allows each to be serviced independently. Many of you asked for a simplified way to manage XAPs, so we set out to streamline the experience, make it easier to keep track of which XAPs exist for your app, and to clearly identify which XAP you’re acting on when you make a change. Here’s the new UI for managing XAPs in an app submission:

When you update an existing app, you’ll see that all of the XAPs for your app are already present in the submission. You can replace or delete one or more of the existing XAPs, add new ones, or leave them unchanged. Typically you’ll only want to add a new XAP when you’re either submitting a new app or adding support for a new platform version to an existing app. (For more details, see Guidance for app management for Windows Phone). Be careful when you delete a XAP in a submission because it will be removed from your app and no longer available in Store after the submission is published. You can think of this table as showing all XAPs that will be available for your app when the submission is published.

After you’ve established the XAPs that you want for your app, you can select each XAP individually by clicking the button beside its name, and then add/edit the Store listing info for each language that the XAP supports.

MPNS certificate management

To use authenticated push notifications from the Microsoft Push Notification Service (MPNS), your app needs to be associated with the authentication certificate that’s used by your service. You can manage certificates at an account level in Dev Center and then choose from those certificates when you submit a new app or update an existing app.

We’ve refreshed the certificate management UI to make it easier to see all of the certificates that you’ve uploaded, and to differentiate between them:

We’ve also updated the certificate selection UI on the App info submission page to help you select the correct certificate. Remember that if you’re updating an app to associate it with an updated certificate, MPNS requires that the Subject Name CN value remains the same. Dev Center will enforce this restriction to ensure that push notifications continue to work after your update is published.

Review submission

When you create a submission for a new or existing app in Dev Center, that submission will remain until you submit or delete it. This means that you can make changes to a submission on different days and from different browser windows and we’ll keep track of them. This can be a powerful feature as you don’t have to worry about losing changes by closing your browser or switching computers. However, this also makes it important to check your work before final submission to make sure you’re aware of all of the changes. We’ve created a new review page to help you do just that. Now you’ll have the opportunity to check the review page for a submission to be sure you are satisfied with the changes that you’ve made before you submit your app. Here’s an example:

The review page is organized into three sections:

Submission: Displays the publish option chosen, along with errors and warnings if applicable.
App: Displays the changes made at the app level. By default, this section shows only the changes you made, but you can clear the Only show changes I made box to see the full summary.
XAPs: Displays a list of XAPs that will be published for your app.

Here’s how the page looks if you choose to see the full summary of app-level information:

We made these changes to enhance your experience with Dev Center. As always, please keep adding your feedback to the Windows Phone Dev Center UserVoice forum. We appreciate hearing from you and your feedback helps us shape future development priorities.

“The wait is over”: Lumia 928 for Verizon Wireless launches May 16 for under $100

Michael Stroh — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:09:40 GMT

If you were paying close attention earlier this week, you might’ve picked up on some clues—buzz over a billboard spotted here, a magazine ad there—that our friends at Nokia had something special brewing. A moment ago, all was revealed.

Meet the Lumia 928, a new addition to Nokia’s award-winning Windows Phone 8 flagship lineup and its first exclusively for Verizon Wireless. Available in black or white, the phone goes on sale next Thursday for $99.99 (with $50 mail-in rebate and two-year contract). Pick one up and for a limited time you’ll also get $25 to shop at the Windows Phone Store, which now has 145,000 apps and games (read the fine print).

“Verizon Wireless customers: we heard you,” said Matt Rothschild, vice president of Nokia North America. “The wait is over.”

One push of its camera button or blast of its speakers and you’ll understand why online buzz around this new Lumia has been building. While the phone sports many of the same innovative features and specs that earned its sibling, the Lumia 920, Smartphone of the Year honors, you can tell Nokia designers wanted to give Verizon’s first flagship a unique spin. (Nokia likes to call it a “new expression” of the Lumia 920).

So, for example, the Lumia 928 has a super-fast Xenon flash that makes its 8.7MP PureView camera—widely considered the best low-light camera on the market—even more helpful in dim conditions and for freezing fast-moving objects. The phone also comes preloaded with Nokia’s handy Smart Shoot app for removing photobombers and other spoilers from the picture.

The new phone has a 4.5-inch OLED display screen for easier viewing outdoors. The device’s stylish polycarbonate body feels thin and light in the hand, and the glass extends to its very edge—a subtle but slick design touch.

Some innovations are less seen than heard. Tucked inside the Lumia 928 are three high-audio-amplitude-capture (HAAC) microphones and a new speaker, which Nokia says is one of the most advanced available for smartphones. These new audio components are designed to record and playback the sound more accurately and with less distortion—all the way up to a whopping 140 decibels (the equivalent ruckus of a jet engine). I can’t wait to hear it take on my AC/DC collection or, say, the new Vyclone collaborative video app that also officially launched today.

Need more concrete proof of the Lumia 928’s awesomeness? Check out Nokia's new teaser videos, like the one below shot during a late-night roller coaster ride that compares the 928’s camera with the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S3. And don’t miss all the additional coverage of the new phone—including this hands-on video Nokia put together—on Nokia Conversations, the company’s official blog.

Inside Windows Phone – Windows Phone and HTML5

Larry Lieberman — Thu, 09 May 2013 18:41:20 GMT

This blog post was authored by Matthias Shapiro, a technical evangelist at Microsoft.

- Larry

One of the exciting things and lesser known features in Windows Phone development is how it’s the perfect place to develop apps using HTML5. Jeff Burtoft, an HTML5 technical evangelist with Microsoft, joins us this week to talk about the flexibility and cross-platform power of HTML5 in Windows Phone. The in-depth example that we cover in the video is a project called YetiBowl, a standards-compliant HTML5 game that runs flawlessly on the web, as a Windows 8 app, and as a Windows Phone 8 app. For more information, see Developing in HTML5 and Javascript for Windows Phone.

Lumia 521 hits Walmart on Saturday, T-Mobile stores May 22. Plus: What else can you buy for under $150? (Answer: Not much)

Michael Stroh — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:33:08 GMT

After quickly selling out during its retail debut on Home Shopping Network last month, Nokia’s no contract, sub-$150 Lumia 521 is about to make an even bigger splash.

Walmart officially starts selling the phone on Saturday at the insanely low price of $129, although you’ll already find it listed in the retail giant’s online store. (As I wrote this morning, it won’t be the only Windows Phone on Walmart’s shelves, either.) The Microsoft Store, meanwhile, is also planning to start carrying the wallet-friendly phone this weekend for $149.

And T-Mobile announced today that it would start selling the Lumia 521 on May 22. The phone, as you might recall, was designed specifically for T-Mobile and is based on the popular Lumia 520, the most affordable model in Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 lineup. It will be available via the carrier’s retail and online stores for $29.99 down and 24 equal monthly payments of $5 for qualifying customers with T-Mobile’s new Simple Choice Plan. Lumia 521 smartphones sold through T-Mobile also feature its nifty Wi-Fi Calling feature. (If you buy the phone from one of the other outlets listed above, T-Mobile said an over-the-air update will start rolling out May 20 to enable Wi-Fi Calling.)

One big reason for all the pre-release buzz and early sales rush: You get a ton of phone for less than $150. The Lumia 521 features a 4-inch touch screen, 5-megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording, and 8 GB of internal storage—expandable to 64 GB via microSD card. Designed for T-Mobile’s 4G HPSA+ network, it comes pre-loaded with great Nokia apps like Music, Cinemagraph, Creative Studio, Panorama, Smart Shoot, and the HERE navigation suite—Drive, Maps, and Transit. Check out Ben Rudolph’s recent hands-on video review for an up-close peek.

Finally, I said the Lumia 521 gives you a lot of phone for the money. But that begs the question: What else does $150 buy you these days?

To find the answer, Ben, Lucas, and David from the Windows Phone team recently went on a shopping spree for comparably-priced prepaid smartphones. After scouring local stores, they returned to base camp with the Samsung Illusion, Samsung Galaxy Appeal, T-Mobile Prism, and the LG Optimus Elite. Check out their first impressions of how the Nokia Lumia 521 stacks up against these other devices. (In his post-spree bliss, my buddy David gets so excited he even forgets that the Prism also comes with a 2GB memory card—although it doesn’t change his analysis one iota.) Anyway, it’s definitely a fun and instructive watch.

Huawei W1 with Windows Phone 8 coming to Walmart this month

Michael Stroh — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:18:33 GMT

Huawei’s first Windows Phone 8 smartphone—the Huawei W1—is expected to go on sale at Walmart later this month, the company announced today. So keep an eye out. It will be sold in Walmart’s online and retail stores. (See what other Windows Phone is headed to Walmart.)

Already a popular choice among price-savvy smartphone buyers overseas—where it’s known as the Ascend W1—it’s the first time the phone has been offered in the U.S. While Huawei didn’t disclose pricing info today, the phone—which comes in black—will use a no-contract prepaid plan and be priced “competitively,” Huawei’s Michael Chuang said in a statement. “The Huawei W1 brings consumers a truly compelling alternative to what’s currently in the marketplace,” he added.

We blogged about this phone when it was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year. It sports a 4-inch 480x800 LCD display with Gorilla Glass, a speedy dual-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor, a 5MP rear-facing camera that captures 720p video, and 1.7 GB of user-available internal storage (expandable to 32GB via microSD card)—all squeezed into a 0.4 inch-thin case.

But its secret weapon is its battery life. According to Huawei, the W1 delivers up to 320 hours of standby time (that’s a tad under two straight weeks, folks) thanks to its built-in power-saving technology. After putting the phone through its paces earlier this year, my colleague Ben Rudolph concluded: “If you’re looking to get your first smartphone (or upgrading to Windows Phone from an old iPhone or Android device), the Ascend W1 is going to give you a lot of value for your dollar.”

Watch Huawei’s website for more details about the phone and its U.S. rollout.

Full-res photo and video backup now available worldwide for Windows Phone 8

KC Lemson — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:10:13 GMT

[This post was written by Aaron Sauvé, a senior program manager on the Windows Phone camera and photos team. –KC]

One great feature of Windows Phone 8 is its ability to save full-resolution backup copies of your pictures and videos on SkyDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage service. It’s an option that both helps protect your best shots and also makes them easier to share. But as some of you have noted, that feature wasn’t available in all markets.

Until now. Today I am pleased to announce that we’re making the ability to back up full-res photos and videos available everywhere. (We just started to light this up, so be patient if you don’t see it right away. The change could take a few days to roll out around the globe.)

To start using the new feature, tap Photos>More>Settings>SkyDrive. Here’s what it looks like visually:

Now, instead of the menu on the left, you’ll now see the one on the right. Just tap Best quality to upload your photos or videos in the highest resolution. One caveat: To save your phone bill, it does require a Wi-Fi connection. (Learn more about the feature.)

Finally, a big thank you to the SkyDrive team, who we’ve worked closely with over the months to make this key feature is available globally. As you can imagine, backing up high-res photos and videos involves a lot of data. To ensure we could provide a quality experience in each market, we deliberately took things slow and planned a staged roll out of the feature.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this or anything else related to the camera and photos experience on Windows Phone.

--Aaron

Ubisoft’s hit game Monster Burner is here—and it’s free

Michael Stroh — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:47:45 GMT

Protecting castles from marauding monsters is the idea behind Monster Burner, Ubisoft’s fast-paced, highly-rated hit that just arrived in the Windows Phone Store. The game, which runs on both Windows Phone 7.5 and 8 devices, is free. So there’s no reason not to give it a spin. Download it now

There isn’t much of a learning curve here: Your task is to torch every (admittedly cute) creature in sight by slinging fireballs and conjuring fire spells. The game is a nice blend of high-energy arcade and strategic puzzle solving. One nice touch: The built-in kids mode, which ratchets down the difficulty level but not the pace of the action, making it perfect for the preschool set. But my favorite thing about Monster Burner is that a typical game is all over in a matter of minutes, so it’s one of those titles that you can pick up or put it down whenever you’d like; a great way to shorten the wait at Starbucks or your next doctor’s appointment.

The world of YouTube, designed for Windows Phone 8

Michael Stroh — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:00:55 GMT

The Windows Phone 8 version of the official YouTube app is getting a major update this morning; It’s been completely redesigned to make the most of Windows Phone 8 features. If you already have it, watch for an update notification on your phone. If you don’t, grab it here. (The app just published, so it might take a few hours to show up.)

What’s new? Lots.

Pin videos, playlists, channels, and even search queries to Start as Live Tiles for fast access. The tile flips to show either the latest video from your subscriptions or the most popular one.
A new and innovative playlist design gives you easy access to videos using a touch-friendly filmstrip.
Just want to listen to a video? It now plays in the background even when the screen is locked.
You can share videos to popular social networks, and via email and text.

And there’s no need to worry about the little ones viewing content you don’t approve of, since you can now pin YouTube to Kid’s Corner and limit content based on YouTube Safety Mode settings you configure. An update for Windows Phone 7.5 is also on the way in a few weeks.

Foursquare updated for Windows Phone 8—now includes speech, Live Tiles, and more

Michael Stroh — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:54:24 GMT

A snazzy new version of the official Foursquare app for Windows Phone 8 just checked in to the Store. Download it now.

Version 3.0 brings a bunch of new features: Pin people and venues to your Start Screen, get notifications on your lock screen, and check-in and share using NFC. In this version, you can also use your voice to search, find, check-in and more. As you use the app, Foursquare fine tunes its recommendations for things to do and try in your vicinity. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Now in the Store: Hulu Plus for Windows Phone 8

Michael Stroh — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:50:17 GMT

The official Hulu Plus app arrived for Windows Phone 8 this morning, bringing tons of top-notch TV shows and movies to your phone. Download it now. The app is free but a Hulu Plus subscription will run you $8 a month.

The app provides all the conveniences of the Hulu service—like ad-free kids shows and popular grown-up offerings like Community, Family Guy and Modern Family—with some nice Windows Phone design touches. You can pin Hulu Plus to Start for Live Tile updates about new show and films, or configure the app to update your Lock screen wallpaper for even faster glance-and-go updates. Another handy feature: You can find, queue, and start watching a program on your Windows Phone, then pick up where you left later back at home on your PC or Xbox 360.

The official Hulu blog has more about the new app.

Testing your Windows Phone app – Part 1

Adam Denning — Fri, 03 May 2013 20:44:27 GMT

This blog post was authored by Craig Horsfield, a Senior SDET on the Windows Phone Test and Operations team.

- Adam

Testing your app throughout the development process helps to ensure that your app has a high level of performance and quality. Testing also helps to make sure your app is effectively represented in the Windows Phone Store. A small investment in the key areas described in this post can give your app positive results in your market, and help bypass common errors early in the development process. This document will outline testing approaches for key test areas that you should consider.

Beta testing

After you have thoroughly tested your app using the emulator and on a Windows Phone device, it’s important to also test your app as a beta app. Submit your beta app for beta distribution, where you can continue to test your app based on the beta and code flow experience. Additionally, you can include beta tester to help review your app. For more info, see Beta testing your app and in-app products.

Installation and launch

Testing your app’s install and launch process is a vital area that can often be overlooked. By following these steps, you can minimize installation and launch issues that are not handled by your app. There are a few scenarios to consider when testing the initial launch experience and resume paths scenarios. One of these is the new Windows Phone 8 fast app resume scenario that a Windows Phone 8 app can opt into.

The following tests can help verify your app’s install, launch, and resume functions.

Test scenario	Details
1. Verify the app on the first launch.	Note any End User License Agreement (EULA) and any other one-time notifications that appear in the launch UI.
2. Reinstall the app.	Verify that all one-time notifications appear again on a subsequent install and launch.
3. Start the app, and then return to the Windows Phone Start screen.	Launch the app again from a Live Tile, or from the phone’s App list. · Verify the default scenario, in which the old app is terminated, and a new instance of the app starts. · For Windows Phone 8 apps, if the app uses fast app resume for Windows Phone 8, in which ActivationPolicy="Resume", then the app resumes instead of starting a new instance. Verify that the app returns to the correct page in the app.

Fast Application Switching (FAS) and tombstoning

When a Windows Phone app is moved to the back stack based on the app’s navigation history, the app is suspended. When the app resumes, it returns to the foreground. Apps on the back stack are tombstoned when there is resource pressure on the device. The exception occurs when running location-tracking apps in the background for Windows Phone 8. Windows Phone 8 location-tracking apps continue to run in this scenario. Your app needs to handle both of these cases, and you should test this function in your app. FAS occurs when the user leaves the app to go to Start, Search, or some other path based on the launchers and choosers you’ve used in your app to support navigation. For more info, see Multitasking for Windows Phone and App activation and deactivation for Windows Phone.

The following tests can help verify your app’s FAS and tombstoning functions.

Test scenario	Details
1. Test the phone’s Start button and Back button.	Launch the app, and then press the Start button to verify that the Windows Phone start page appears. Press the Back button to resume the app. Verify that the app resumes in the required time, and in the state it was in before you navigated away from the app.
2. Test the Camera button.	Launch the app, and then press the Camera button to verify that the camera starts. Press the Back button to resume the app. Verify that the app resumes in the required time (10 seconds) and that is in the state it was before you navigated away from the app.
3. Test locking the phone using the Power button.	Launch the app, and then press the Power button to lock the phone. Unlock the phone, and then verify that the app resumes in the required time, and that the app is in the state it was in before you locked the phone.
4. Perform the same test cases for FAS and tombstone state.	To force a tombstone path, in Visual Studio, in the project Properties windows, click the Debug tab, and then select Tombstone upon deactivation while debugging.
5. Test deactivating and closing your app.	Make sure the app doesn’t take too long to process the Application_Deactivated and Application_Closing events, so that the app can save its state correctly. Avoid doing a lot of work in the Application_Closing code path, because processing time and access to the UI thread are limited.
6. Test background execution of your app.	For continued background execution in location tracking apps, you’ll want to test the app’s RunningInBackground event handler. In addition to running the preceding tests, check for the following conditions: · Background execution occurs when the app enters the back stack. · Start the app and move it to the back stack and resume the app. Verify that the app was not suspended and that it continued to run.

App navigation

You should navigate all paths in the app to test its navigation. You especially want to be sure that your app exits and handles navigation interruptions as intended.

Test scenario	Details
1. Test the Back button.	Your app should exit when you press the Back button on the top most page.
2. Test navigation interruptions.	Your app should not try to initiate new navigation while your app is currently navigating. Test rapid navigations in the app, and navigating in the app while pages are loading.

Don’t throw unhandled exceptions to exit the app at a page that isn’t at the top of the page stack. Instead, navigate over the page by removing it from the back stack; you don’t want to display the page on the exit path, or call API available in Application.Terminate in Windows Phone 8 apps. This triggers an app crash, and a Watson error report. You might see the crashes indicated in the app reports available in the Store.

Launchers and choosers

Launchers in your Windows Phone app give users the ability to perform common tasks, such as launching the Bing Maps app, launching Media Player, or launching the Store or Marketplace. Launchers do not return data or status to your app. With a chooser, on the other hand, users can return data to your app. For instance, users can choose return info from the Contacts app. For all launchers and choosers, test your app to be sure the launcher or chooser works correctly, and that it doesn’t trigger related errors.

Test scenario	Details
1. Test navigating to and from the launcher or chooser.	In the app, navigate to the launcher or chooser. Immediately go back to the previous page or screen. The app should return to the page and state the navigation was initiated from.
2. Test the complete scenario when using the launcher or chooser.	In the app, navigate to the launcher or chooser. Complete the scenario, i.e., select a photo or send mail. When the action is completed, the app should return to the preceding app state.
3. Test FAS scenarios when navigating to a launcher or chooser.	Navigating to a launcher or chooser can triggers an FAS scenario. See the related section earlier in this post for additional test scenarios related to FAS.

UI and layout

You need to test to make sure all elements of your UI and their layout work as intended, and meet app submission requirements, such as supporting Light Theme and Dark Theme. Test each control you use in your app, and the overall appearance of your app on the phone.

The following tests will help verify your app’s UI and layout.

Test scenario	Details
1. Test your app in the Light Theme.	Ensure all text is readable and all UI is visible.
2. Test your app in the Dark Theme.	Ensure all text is readable and all UI is visible.
3. Test the UI for text clipping.	You may need to set the text to wrap or make other layout changes.
4. Test your Splash screen display.	If you use a splash screen in your app, verify that it’s visible when the app starts, and that it displays for the expected time.
5. Test each animation.	Ensure all animations are smooth. If they appear slow or stop unexpectedly, see if the app is doing excessive work on a background task or thread.
6. Test each screen orientation.	Verify that the layout looks as you intended in portrait and landscape orientations, and that each page can display and move between orientations.

In part 2 of this series, we’ll discuss additional areas and testing approaches to consider related to push notification; Live Tiles; background agents; media, audio, and video; geolocation, and resource usage and performance.

Expanded developer opportunity – new payout markets and billing connections

Todd Brix — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:02:00 GMT

We continue to take steps forward on the path to establish a Windows Phone ecosystem characterized by quality, scale, and developer opportunity. We are seeing strong results for the ecosystem since the launch of Windows Phone 8 with more than a 100% increase in app downloads and nearly 140% increase in paid app revenue. Today I have a few enhancements to announce that can help you expand your app distribution reach and revenue opportunities.

Diverse phone offering and distribution

Nokia’s Lumia 720 and 520/521 phones have just begun to ship across the globe, giving potential Windows Phone customers additional choices in form factor, phone capabilities, and price points. This review from CNET (Nokia Lumia 520 review: One of the best budget phones around) pretty much sums up the sentiment on the new device, stating the Lumia 520 packs an “impressive punch” both in terms of hardware quality and value for the money.

These phones will be available in new markets and distribution channels, given their budget-friendly pricing. In fact, this week the Nokia Lumia 521 paired with an offer from US mobile operator T-Mobile to make its debut on the popular US Home Shopping Network, a first for Windows Phone.

The industry continues to recognize Windows Phone steady growth. According to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Windows Phone has already increased its share of all smartphone sales by nearly 2% compared to last year and is attracting first-time smartphone buyers. With over half of the US market (and much of the world) still owning a feature phone, it’s likely many will upgrade over the coming year, which ultimately will contribute to growth for Windows Phone.

Six new developer payout markets

This week we will enable developer payout in 6 new markets via Dev Center bringing the total markets supporting developer payout to 122. The new markets include: Afghanistan, Iraq, Montenegro, Serbia, Timor-Leste, and Ukraine. Developers in these 6 markets will now be able to submit both free and paid apps to the Windows Phone Store to reach customers in 191 markets.

New Mobile Operator Billing Connections

We have added 15 new mobile operator billing partners since August 2012, bringing the total number of supported partners to 25 in 19 markets, surpassing Google Play. Mobile operator billing gives consumers a payment option with significantly higher conversion rates than credit cards. On average, an app developer earns 3x more per active user on a paid app published in a mobile operator billing-enabled market than a market that only supports credit card. We will continue to expand this footprint and you’ll be seeing many more connections in the near future.

Simplified app submissions

Finally, I want to point out that we continue to incorporate your feedback and streamline the app submission process. Recently the Dev Center team enabled cancelling submissions, rotating screenshots and automatic screenshot resizing – all items you indicated needed improvement. You can read more about these enhancements on the Windows Phone Developer blog. Next, we’ll add the ability to review your app submission, giving you a chance to make sure everything looks right, before you actually submit. I encourage you to watch for a post from Rushmi Malaviarachchi in the coming week that will provide details on all the latest improvements.

If you haven’t yet developed an app for Windows Phone or if you haven’t updated your app recently, I’d like to encourage you to visit the Dev Center to download the SDK and get started. There’s never been a better time to develop for Windows Phone.

Inside Windows Phone – Data binding

Larry Lieberman — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:48:33 GMT

Data binding is one of the fundamental concepts used for good Windows Phone application design, but can be difficult to grasp for newcomers. The core concept is this: No one wants to manually update the user interface elements. It’s best to have the UI automatically reflect the state of the application. Data binding helps us do this. We can work exclusively on our Windows Phone UI, bind the values in the UI and then work on the inner logic of the application knowing that all the updates are being reflected to the user. Because of the power in the model, as you see in this video, there are some really great "fringe" benefits in terms of interaction and design that we get, along with the core benefits. For more information, see Data binding for Windows Phone.

Now in the Store: Star Trek App and Untappd

Michael Stroh — Thu, 02 May 2013 18:58:00 GMT

Romulan ale, anybody? A pair of official apps focused on two of life’s greatest pleasures—Star Trek and beer—landed in the Windows Phone Store today. Both are Windows Phone 8 only. Check them out and let me know what you think.

Star Trek App

The latest Star Trek installment, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” lands in theaters May 17, but the free and official Windows Phone 8 companion app is here now. Beam it down. Like Tribbles, movie tie-in apps aren’t always worth the trouble. But any fan of the franchise will want this one. Trekkers get the latest movie news—including exclusives available only through the app—and can enter giveaways to win an official Starfleet uniform and other movie memorabilia. If you don’t already have one yet, you can also buy a ticket for the May 15 IMAX sneak preview via the app. The trivia quizzes and polls are a fun way to kill time while you’re counting down the days.

Untappd

Drink this in, beer lovers: The official Untappd app is now available for Windows Phone 8. (When you’re born with the name Stroh, you tend to notice these kinds of things.) Download it here. Billed as a “social discovery” tool for craft beers and microbrews, the free app helps you discover new styles and the watering holes that serve them. Create wish lists, share reviews and photos of favorite brews, see what’s trending, and get personalized recommendations based on what you’ve quaffed in the past. Untappd also has a Foursquare-like check in feature so you can see where your friends are drinking. As if sipping a well-made beer wasn’t its own reward, the app also injects some fun into the pursuit by giving you badges when you try new places and pours. Cheers!

Angry Birds relaunches on Windows Phone with 100 new levels—and it’s free until May 15

Michael Stroh — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:03:34 GMT

It’s the rebirth of a classic. Rovio announced on their blog today that they’ve published a new version of Angry Birds for Windows Phone that adds 100 new levels—for more than 400 in all. The Windows Phone 8 version also sports Xbox LIVE achievements and leaderboards. The game is free through May 15.

Download it for Windows Phone 8

Download it for Windows Phone 7.5

As the blog post notes, this new version is a completely separate download from the one that you might already have on your phone. “The reason why we’re re-releasing the game is that it will be technically easier for us to support in the future, so we’re really happy to get this out there!” Rovio writes.

The new version is also designed to work on Windows Phone 8 models with 256MB of memory.

Downloading the new version of the game won’t affect your progress in the old one. You can continue to play both. But it’s worth grabbing the improved one while it’s free for the extra levels and any future ones Rovio decides to spring on its fans.

And speaking of future releases—I’m hearing that that Angry Birds Rio is on the way for Windows Phone “very soon.”

VIDEO: Hands-on with the Nokia Lumia 521

Ben Rudolph — Wed, 01 May 2013 22:47:56 GMT

A few days ago, Michael let you know that the Nokia Lumia 521 was coming to T-Mobile. I got my hands on one a few days before the announcement, and can confirm that this is one heck of a good phone for a really, really low price. I’ll admit I was skeptical at first; how good could a $149 phone really be? But once I had the chance to hold it in my hands and play with it for a day or two, my skepticism dissipated.

Check out the video for a closer look and my first impressions:

For a first-time smartphone buyer, or someone who’s upgrading from an older phone and wants something that really rocks the basics, the Lumia 521 is tough to beat.

Don’t forget to follow Windows Phone on Twitter and like us on Facebook. And remember to follow me on Twitter to ask questions or just say hi.

A peek behind the scenes of our new wedding ad

Michael Stroh — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:45:02 GMT

Many of you said you enjoyed the new Windows Phone wedding ad that began airing yesterday. I’ve also been having fun reading the #timetoswitch tweets people have been sending explaining why they switched to Windows Phone.

If you’re a DVD extras addict, or just in the mood for another laugh, I thought you might like to check out this great behind-the-scenes video filmed during the making of the new ad.

What do you think: Just as funny—or better?

Join the Facebook for Windows Phone Beta app program

Michael Stroh — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:41:00 GMT

Calling all tinkerers. If you love Facebook and enjoy playing around with pre-release software, read on.

Today we’re launching a new program designed to help speed up delivery of new features in the official Facebook app for Windows Phone and need sharp-eyed, energetic volunteers to download a beta version of our next release and tell us how to make it better.

Don’t like it when apps crash? This probably isn’t the program for you.

If, on the other hand, you want to see where we and the Facebook team are headed and want to provide engineers feedback during a time when it actually matters, you can grab the beta app here. (To avoid confusion, the beta won’t show up in Store search results and is only available via this direct link.)

As you’ll see, the app is undergoing a major redesign and now includes several much-requested features, including new support for high-res photos, post sharing, and Facebook Timeline. Once you’ve put the beta app through its paces, we hope you’ll pass along bug reports, feature requests, and other feedback by going to Settings>About in the app. You can also post a Store review. Your comments and suggestions will inform future releases.

By the way, the existing Facebook app (version 4.2.1) isn’t going anywhere yet. So you can have both apps installed side-by-side on your phone. Happy hunting.