Developing for WP7 vs WP8

[TheDarKnight]

Hi Folks,
I am looking into starting developing some apps for windows phone, I know that wp8 is around the corner, and it would be better if I just waited and develop for wp8 straight, but also apps developed for wp7 are going to be compatible and run fine on wp8, my questions is since wp7 app are Silverligh, and wp8 is WinRT (basically xaml and c#), is upgrading the app from wp7 to wp8 going to be a pain? I know Silverlight is a flavor of xaml as well, but to me it sounds like an effort to port Silverlight to WinRT.

 

[TheDarKnight]

Any one ? Please ?

 

[dtristan111]

Just make a WP7 app. It will work fine on WP8.

Remember, there are a lot more WP7 users then WP8 (doh). Also, WP7 phones will still be sold, there will even be some new WP 7.8 phones lunched. Plus, it could end up with WP8 being a flop.

Until WP8 phones out number WP7 phones (and even then) there is absolutely no reason to make exclusive WP8 apps.

 

[diapers]

Just make a WP7 app. It will work fine on WP8.

Remember, there are a lot more WP7 users then WP8 (doh). Also, WP7 phones will still be sold, there will even be some new WP 7.8 phones lunched. Plus, it could end up with WP8 being a flop.

Until WP8 phones out number WP7 phones (and even then) there is absolutely no reason to make exclusive WP8 apps.

There are many reasons to make wp8 exclusive apps. The API supports much richer features than WP7. A simple example if you may, I'm the developer of "Turtle Blog Viewer", one of about 6 or 7 Tumblr clients on the market place.

Currently with WP7 there's no API to select and upload videos. There's one for pictures.. no video, and guess what people keep asking for? Video uploads! What do you think is going to happen when WP8 comes out? Everyone is going to update for WP8. Sure we will maintain a version for WP7 but it will increasing lack features as developers concentrate on the better WP8.

 

[dtristan111]

Well, true if you need and API in your app that is exclusive to WP8, then you have to make a WP8 app.

But otherwise, if you don't need any API that is WP8 exclusive and don't plan to use it in the future, then designing a WP7 app is the right direction currently.

We will see how well the WP8 devices sell, but I'm afraid that if WP7.8 really gets some nice low end devices lunched it will take more then a year from now to concentrate only on WP8.

 

[inteller]

you can set your build target to both WP7/8 I would do that and develop along as far as you can until you either A) complete the app or B) run into an API you need and switch to 8 only. You will be starting from quare one on user base if you go 8 only today.

 

[DarthVeda]

If your app requires certain features which aren't available in WP7 then it's better to wait for WP8 and then develop it. But if it doesn't then you can start now itself for WP7 and it will be 100% compatible with WP8. Easy decision to make

BTW, on a lighter note, I know with trilogy completed and nolan saying no more movies planned in the future, you would want to branch out to other areas but I would stick to crime fighting

 

[WillBrown]

I keep going back and forth on this.

The key feature I would like to build into my app is in-app purchases. I'd release the app for free with ads, then have an in-app purchase to remove the ads and others to add additional features.

I haven't begun development, but that's the model I want to go with for most of my apps. If I release a WP7 version now, I'll have to release/maintain two separate versions. But, if I release only a WP8 version, it'll probably take more than a year before the WP8 devices outnumber WP7 devices.

Decisions...decisions...

 

[Stiv]

It is definitely a tough decision. I'll be looking to start a new project soon so this is something I’ve been thinking about too.

Here’s a few random thoughts.

Development time: If development time is going to be 6-12 months, then by the time I'm ready to release there might be enough WP8 users to justify making it exclusive to WP8. A shorter development time would make WP7 more attractive due to the larger potential audience.

In app purchases: In-app purchases are (in my opinion) a much more elegant and flexible solution than trial vs paid apps. However while it’s nicer, I don’t know if it’s worth excluding a majority of the current user base just for that one feature unless your entire business model is based around it.

App type: If the app I’m building is one that there are already heaps of similar apps on WP7, then WP8 would be an obvious choice. Since there’s hardly any WP8 apps out there at the moment it would be a great time to get in early and make an app targeted specifically at WP8. An app designed to run in WP8’s native resolution will look much better than any of the WP7 apps so it would give you a great advantage to cash in on the early adopters.

 

[rudyhuyn]

Don't forget that Windows Phone 7.8 will add some Windows Phone 8 features (in-app purchase perhaps)

 

[Jaiaca]

I can't add too much to this thread since I bascially agree with bot sides of the argument. In my experience (I just released my first game in August), I choose WP7 because anything running on 7.1 will work fine on 8 PLUS for my game I didn't require any of the new features coming to 8.

You have more of a target audience with 7.1 so until early next year I wont be switching to WP8 development