Windows Phone 8.1 SDK reveals universal cross-platform apps, on-screen buttons, more

• By Ryan Whitwam on February 11, 2014 at 1:52 pm
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  • • Microsoft has been toiling over the last few years to shape Windows Phone into a competitive mobile operating system. Android and iOS are still riding high, but Windows Phone 8.1 is just around the corner. Microsoft today made the SDK for Windows Phone 8.1 available to developers, who are now busily digging through the features they will have to work with — and, of course, sharing those features with us.
      One of the most notable new features in WIndows Phone 8.1 is the inclusion of universal apps. This is the beginning of Windows Phone merging with another beleaguered Microsoft product — Windows 8. (Sebastian has written extensively about the eventual merger between Windows Phone and Windows.) Universal apps in the new SDK will be able to take advantage of templates for large screen devices running Windows 8 or RT and Windows Phone with the same shared library of HTML and JavaScript.
      Developers will have to use the .appx format for Windows Phone apps going forward, which is the same one used for Windows 8 Metro apps. Merging the two app catalogs together could allow Microsoft to beef up its offerings into something respectable. Windows Phone apps under this new scheme will also take on a Windows 8 feature: Apps won’t be terminated when you enter multitasking mode, but will be suspended instead. They can be swiped away from multitasking mode to be manually closed, though.
      
      Windows Phone 8.1 will be introducing the concept of on-screen buttons to users, which is the direction Android devices have been heading in the last few years. On-screen buttons can save bezel space and make an interface more consistent, but implementing it can be tricky. A new setting also indicates users will be able to change the color of this bar. The options are always dark, and match the background and accent colors. That could go either way with regard to consistency.
      If the SDK behavior is anything to go on, Microsoft will allow users to hide the new navigation bar with a small arrow button off to the left. Having the option of reclaiming that screen real estate when you really need it is very handy and is something Android users have been hoping for since on-screen buttons gained traction. This wassomewhat addressed with immersive mode in Android 4.4.
      Windows Phone 8.1 brings users new settings for monitoring storage and battery life, as well as support for VPNs. However, Microsoft seems to have removed some of the native Facebook integration. That might be a bug in the SDK, or Microsoft could be rethinking the way social media is woven into the OS.
      
      The last time around, Microsoft gave developers the ability to create camera apps that could be set as the default by users, and it looks like that capability is being extended to SMS. The Windows Phone 8.1 SDK includes an option to set a third-party messaging app as the default. That’s a very Android-y thing to do, and will come as a boon to those looking to use alternative messaging clients such as WhatsApp. Users might be less likely to change the stock camera app in Windows Phone 8.1, though, with the addition of an updated camera app with burst mode.
      One of the things that’s missing from the SDK might be the biggest story — anything related to Bing or search brings up an error. Microsoft is rumored to be building a virtual assistant codenamed Cortana for Windows Phone 8.1. It seems that Redmond isn’t ready to tip its hand just yet. A completely new search protocol is the sort of thing developers would like to see in the SDK, so Microsoft must have a good reason for excluding it — perhaps Cortana has some really impressive features that Microsoft wants to properly show off for maximum impact, or it might just be a bit of a mess.
      A full preview of Windows Phone 8.1 is expected to debut at the Build conference in April. Developers will be watching closely — as will we. This might be Microsoft’s last chance to make Windows Phone work before Android starts looking like the only option.