14 DAY TRIAL // If you’re looking to create a simple yet powerful app for Windows Phone or Windows 8, Microsoft’s very own Windows App Studio should be the first destination, and starting today, everything should be even easier than before.
The company introduced a bunch of new features in its own web-based app builder, including sideloading to quickly get an app on your phone by simply scanning a certificate and the app itself, and 9 new languages among which Chinese (simplified and traditional), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
At the same time, the new version of the service also includes new page layouts which Microsoft says should make it easier to create apps specifically for PCs and tablets. You can now assign multiple columns of data, so the resulting universal app should come with full support for phones, tablets, and PCs.
New goodies for more advanced users are also available, including a change that makes all static resources to be stored as json or HTML files in the Shared/Assets/Data folder. This is particularly important for developers who want to change the app code displaying content within the interface.
Overall, Microsoft says, the Windows App Studio should empower developers to create more advanced apps without spending too much time learning coding, and with the available resources, pretty much everyone should be able to create a simple Windows Phone program.