The work of a developer just got a whole lot easier. At Build 2014, Microsoft announced universal apps to address the problem that currently “there’s no easy way to create apps that work across all form factors”. The idea of universal apps is something that will be familiar to anyone who knows about iOS and the same idea now applies to Windows.
Developers will now be able to create universal apps that will work on all forms of Windows device without the need for changes to be made to code. However, there is still scope for making some changes when desired — so the tablet version of an app could be tweaked slightly to take advantage of a larger screen — but the idea is to make it quicker and easier to create app that work on multiple devices.
Coding has been simplified in Visual Studio to make it easier than ever to design controls for apps with multiple views.
There are also great repercussions for end-users — that means you and I. It is possible to buy one app and use it on multiple device; there is no need to buy a desktop, a tablet and phone version of the same thing.
Ultimately this should mean that the cost of buying apps drops and users will be encouraged into making use of more apps — all of which is great news for software fans as well as the Windows Phone Store and Windows Store in general.
