Five reasons to develop for Windows Phone 8

Abiola Olaniran is Nigeria’s most successful and highest paid Windows mobile game developer. Just few weeks after the launch of Gamsole, his mobile game development company, had already recorded over six million downloads. Today, Gamsole is just one year old and counts Traffic Jam, Candy Smasher, Mega Chicken and Ninja Jump among its gaming titles. With more than four million game downloads under his company’s belt, Olaniran clearly knows the intricacies of the industry, and his platform of choice is Windows Phone.

“I chose the mobile Windows platform because it’s new, exciting and beginning to have ‘magic moments’,” says Olaniran.

He outlines five main benefits of developing on the Windows Phone platform.

1. Native code support

Windows 8 supports a variety of programming languages and tools, including C#, C++, HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. This means programmers do not have to learn new code to develop apps for the Windows Store.

Olaniran studied computer science and mathematics at the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, and coded in JavaScript as a student. “Windows Phone 8 provides an easy-to-use development framework, which makes it easier, quicker and more cost-effective to develop than Android. It’s now our platform of choice for future development,” he says.

1. Comprehensive support infrastructure

The Windows software development kit (SDK) for Windows 8 and Windows Dev. Center provide everything developers need to start building their apps. Free versions of the software are available to kick-start development, while start-ups and students have access to free subscriptions of BizSpark and DreamSpark. Microsoft also hosts free Windows developer camps, where attendees get access to sample apps, documentation, tutorials and guidance from experts.

In addition, Microsoft makes its user experience guidelines and design patterns accessible to developers. With access to all this information, developing for Windows Phone is simple and fast.

“Windows is easy for young aspiring developers to learn and in Africa it offers the most support. Growing up in Nigeria, I was at the Microsoft offices every weekend where there were evangelists to help me. I don’t see that on the other platforms.”

1. Large existing user base and global marketplace

The Windows Store has broad reach, is flexible and has a global audience. As of 19 January 2014, there were more than 144 000 apps in the Store, with a thousand being added, on average, every week. Data from Strategy Analytics reveals that the Windows Phone platform has doubled in market share, from 2% to 4%, and, as of Q3 2013, is the world’s fastest growing smartphone platform – it shipped more than 10 million phones in this quarter.

Added to this is the fact that Africa is the fastest-growing mobile market in the world, meaning there is a huge untapped market for locally relevant apps. And therein lies the attraction for Olaniran. “Gamsole is operating on the fastest growing mobile platform in the world. And we hope to move along with this growth. There is no better time to be a developer in Africa. The market isn’t saturated and it’s full of possibilities.”

Gamsole creates and exports African entertainment to the rest of the world and not just for the African market. Though the games were created in Africa, their market is global. According to Olaniran, 10 percent of downloads came from China, about 20 percent from Brazil and 12 percent from India. “In a time period of three months, five of our games got over one million downloads on the Windows Phone Store alone. We see Gamsole becoming a great entertainment force in Africa and also a way of exporting African art to the rest of the world.”

The Windows Store supports the distribution of free and paid apps in hundreds of markets worldwide, so most customers can find and install the apps they want in the language of their choice.

1. Optimised for apps

Windows apps install easily and run on a single window that fills out the entire screen. They automatically work with a variety of input sources, including touch, pen, mouse and keyboard, and are also visually appealing in that they use live tiles with display notifications rather than static icons. Tiles offer more personal and engaging information than a traditional icon and can provide information on the Start screen, even when the app is not running.

The SDK is easy to use and application programming interfaces (APIs) simplify layout and presentation. Windows Store apps can access several types of devices, like cameras and removable storage. Apps can also access input from eight sensors, including accelerometer, inclinometer, gyrometer, compass, ambient-light, orientation, and geographic location sensors. Windows Store apps can search across other apps and even share content with other apps.

1. Attractive economics and flexible business models

Developers can choose the business model that best suits their app. The Store provides full platform support for free apps, trials (both time-based and feature-based), and paid apps, as well as in-app purchases. For apps that are supported by ads, developers can choose the ad platform that best meets their goals.

With Windows Store, the developer comes first. The registration fee for individuals is $19, with a $99 fee for companies. The revenue share for the developer is 70%, but when an app achieves $25 000 in revenue – aggregated across all sales in every market – that changes to 80% revenue share for the rest of the lifetime of the app.

 “Developers are using the platform to create apps that not only entertain, but help solve some of Africa’s most plaguing issues around health, unemployment and education”, says Shina Oyetosho, Director, Developer Platform, Microsoft Nigeria. “And what’s most exciting is that their market is not just Africa, but the world. Helping to bring technology from Africa to the world, and not just the other way around, is something we’re passionate about doing, and have committed to through our 4Afrika Initiative”.

Olaniran concludes: “Our goal is to make games that are fun to play, plain and simple. We provide a fun-filled multiplayer gaming experience to our customers who are using these smart devices. Our customers can now play our games, which are garnished in refined African concepts and experience, with other people around the world through their smart mobile devices. It’s a totally new experience and we are glad to know that people around the world love the experience and are downloading it from the app stores/ marketplace at a fair price.”