The World According to Marc

One of the often overlooked improvements for the Windows Store in Windows 8.1 answers one of the more common questions I'm asked by developers.

Previously the name you reserved for your app was someone permanent. Sure, you could rename your app but it required republishing your app under the new name and delisting your old one. The downside of this was that your existing users had no idea and therefore ended up orphaned from future upgrades.

With 8.1 you can now rename...
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I recently published an app for Windows 8.1 for importing photos. Image Importer provides an enhanced photo importation over the default Photos app. Specifically it adds two features previously available in Windows Essentials Live Gallery - the ability to import files into folders by Date Taken and remove files from the source media when completed. I developed this utility for my personal use but decided to publish it after hearing other's in the community looking for these features.

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Last fall I wrote about the Settings Charm and how to leverage it for Privacy Policy. That post is still completely relevant today but I want to update the examples to leverage the new Settings Flyout control in Windows 8.1.

SettingsFlyout

Windows 8.1 introduces a new control for XAML, the SettingsFlyout. Previously this control had only been available for JavaScript apps or as a 3rd party component. It provides a convenient way for creating app settings flyouts in your app that comply with...
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A few years ago I found myself in a legendary convergence, a kismet of epic proportion, a "big bang" that shook me to the core. This wasn't something trivial like singularity. This was bigger, much bigger.

I needed to build app for Windows 8 that demonstrated some fundamental principles of WinRT and Modern UI development. It also so happened that I needed to renew my vehicle registration and I was dreading the idea of waiting in line for hours. Out of...
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CAPE COD, July 15 2013 – August Manross LaFleur was born late Thursday evening weighing 7lbs and laying 19 inches long. His first words upon entering this world were unintelligible and awaiting audio analysis. Several witnesses reported that the words were something to the effect of “What did I do to deserve these guys for a family?”. Other witnesses stated that he was reminding his parents that he wasn't in fact born in August and irony is highly overrated and...
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There are two universal truths about the Bing News app on Windows 8. The first is that it represents the best of Windows 8 app design with dynamic content, gorgeous images and intuitive navigation. The second is that it is nearly impossible for the average developer (maybe even many above average developers) to reproduce. The fact is, it isn't just one of the best Windows 8 apps, it was written by some of the best Windows 8 developers. Thankfully Windows...
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I needed to use Facebook authentication in a Windows Store app the other day. The Windows Runtime makes this trivially easy with it's WebAuthenticationBroker class. The web authentication broker allows apps to use Internet authentication and authorization protocols like OAuth and OpenID with minimal effort. Unfortunately the samples I found on the interwebs for Facebook were buggy/incomplete or assumed the I had a deep understanding of Facebook authentication. After a bit of work I was able to get it working and...
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As part of my job I get to talk with a lot of developers, designers and product managers. When the subject of User Experience comes up (and it always does), I always emphasize the importance of thinking "outside the box".

Yes, I know. It is a horrible cliché, a vestigial remnant of bad management consulting that should have gone the way of sock puppets. But stick with me for a second, it isn't what you assume it is.


When I say this,...
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