Microsoft's universal Windows app

[DieH@rd]

Didnt they announced this last year at last /build or some similar show? Balmer said on stage in front of live camera that apps for Metro could be very easily ported to Xbox One.

I guess, deployment of this is still far away, but it's nice they are moving along with it.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Didnt they announced this last year at last /build or some similar show? Balmer said on stage in front of live camera that apps for Metro could be very easily ported to Xbox One.

Porting (an effort by a developer) is different to a universal app, sold once, and able to run on multiple platforms owned by a user.

It's easy to port iOS apps to OSX (the Mac), but you need the dev to do it.

 

[Cyan]

There are any number of applications that could prove useful. Plex, XBMC, VLC, Spotify are some of the most commonly asked for ones. It opens up 3rd parties to place their media streaming applications on there without MS getting too involved(they apparently will heavily curate this and applications must be approved before dev builds are run on console units) Maybe some home automation such that voice can be used to control things. Snap a baby monitor application while you game. Any public APIs could be used such that you could stream your music from a Dropbox account, or any such things. Lots of possibilities for things to do on a TV. Let the devs out there think of things.

A dream but...

I would love to have a Windows layer -think of WINE- on the Xbox One with mouse controls translated from Microsoft to the gamepad -apart from using a mouse if you wanted to-.

Think of GoG on Xbox One. :smile2: And Heroes of Might and Magic IV or V, or III, or II... running on the Xbox One using the gamepad, with your save files.

That would be the ultimate system seller

 

[RudeCurve]

I'd buy a remote security/monitoring Kinect 2 cam app if someone made a good one with motion detected activation option. Should be fairly easy for even a one man programmer.

 

[Lalaland]

A dream but...

I would love to have a Windows layer -think of WINE- on the Xbox One with mouse controls translated from Microsoft to the gamepad -apart from using a mouse if you wanted to-.

Think of GoG on Xbox One. :smile2: And Heroes of Might and Magic IV or V, or III, or II... running on the Xbox One using the gamepad, with your save files.

That would be the ultimate system seller

It would sell at least one more XB1, specifically to me. Alas neither manufacturer is about to allow another web store onto their platforms (aside from all the technical reasons) but a guy can dream

 

[zed]

Ive gotta agree with Rangers here
WRT my internet remark
I tried one of my internet 3d games last night on my phone (webgl)
~40fps 1920x1080 so performance is pretty good, but like I've said before
Input is the problem, how to translate keypresses to a phone, its difficult, the best way is just make a game designed for the phones input.

btw IIRC unity3d also runs on all the above platforms (not sure about xbone but will soon) and many more besides

 

[XpiderMX]

As far as it matters to Xb1, I dont see why I would ever give a crap.

This reminds me of remote play or other things people are always prattling on about in the gaming/tech space, that I just see absolutely almost zero compelling about. I can only wonder, who the heck cares, and why are people always talking about it?

I've never "bought" an app on X360, and dont plan to ever on a console more or less. And I dont see why I would. Hell, I've maybe actually paid for about 5 apps on my smartphone in 3-4 years.

Also, there's just no crossover between what you do a console and a phone/tablet/pc. For example, One of the very few apps I've paid for is called PDA Net/Foxfi, it essentially gets around carrier tethering restrictions and makes your phone a wifi hotspot when you turn it on. Cool, I paid 6.99 or something for this app, because that's very valuable and worth it. Now, why would I ever buy such a thing on Xbox One?

LOLwhat?

There are a lot of useful apps that can be used on a console, I really want Plex App, or VLC App for example, a better youtube app (from third party dev) not the google app (crap), a Tonido app for access my owncloud, etc.

And, you are not paying for a console app, you are paying for an app that can be installed on your phone, tablet, PC and/or console, I will be happy for paying an app and using it on all my devices.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

btw IIRC unity3d also runs on all the above platforms (not sure about xbone but will soon) and many more besides

I believe it's fairly close to release on PS4XB1.

 

[willardjuice]

btw IIRC unity3d also runs on all the above platforms (not sure about xbone but will soon) and many more besides

Actually the universal app could help Unity tremendously. Currently metro and wp8 are two distinct platforms, even for Unity. While they share similar api's, they do differ in non-trivial ways. This requires different code paths, plugins, validation, etc. It would be nice (i.e. cheaper and quicker) being able to merge them all into one platform.

 

[zed]

Actually the universal app could help Unity tremendously. Currently metro and wp8 are two distinct platforms, even for Unity. While they share similar api's, they do differ in non-trivial ways. This requires different code paths, plugins, validation, etc. It would be nice (i.e. cheaper and quicker) being able to merge them all into one platform.

sure its gonna help them
Im talking more about the game makers (who this is aimed at)
the phone & the pc are completely different beasts even though todays phones are as powerful as yesterdays pc's. Both need to be designed differently

 

[XpiderMX]

Unreal Engine 4 will come to WinRT too...

 

[benroveno]

Yeah MicroSoft, it's about time. Now is the right time honey!!

 

[XpiderMX]

I'm enjoying universal apps now... Plex is now an Universal App and I want it on Xbox One.

 

[Ron]

It's really awesome when everything in our house is unified into one synchronized system. TV, console, cable tv, smartphones, tablets and many more. That's the future that i want to see.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

sure its gonna help them
Im talking more about the game makers (who this is aimed at)
the phone & the pc are completely different beasts even though todays phones are as powerful as yesterdays pc's. Both need to be designed differently

I have a feeling universal apps for Microsoft platforms are not aimed at games but at the broader range of applications available on various platforms (phones/tablets/desktops/laptops/XB1).

While games could potentially benefit from it, it isn't necessarily the focus for it.

Regards,
SB

 

[liquidboy]

I have a feeling universal apps for Microsoft platforms are not aimed at games but at the broader range of applications available on various platforms (phones/tablets/desktops/laptops/XB1).

While games could potentially benefit from it, it isn't necessarily the focus for it.

Regards,
SB

Universal apps is more a VS tooling story for creating "shared code" to be used across your projects (WP/Windows/WindowsRT/XBoxOne etc) ...

So yes it really is more about apps across the Windows ecosystem sharing code (UI & BUSINESS LOGIC), but as you've said it also happens to include C++/Dx apps in the projects that support universal shared code (which is after all what an Xbox One game will be)..

I've been happily converting several applications, some purely Dx based, to use universal shared code and I can tell you first hand that its a brilliant story.. I can see lots of Xbox games using universal shared code, and in some cases its a better story than referencing dlls or nugget/extensions..


PS. Universal Shared Code sits in its own project side by side with your other platform/device specific projects (WP/Windows/WindowsRT/Xbox etc) .. At compile time the "shared code" will be compiled into your other platform specific projects. It's very similar to linked files ... but on steroids as it also allows UI ..

 

[Davros]

So does visual studio create 1 universal exe or multiple exe's 1 for each platform

 

[Lalaland]

So does visual studio create 1 universal exe or multiple exe's 1 for each platform

From that screenshot it does seem to apply that the universality is provided by multiple compile targets rather than one binary but then again perhaps each universal app only comes bundled with the libraries requested at the start of the project to reduce file size?

 

[liquidboy]

So does visual studio create 1 universal exe or multiple exe's 1 for each platform

1. You create a solution eg. HALO Solution

2. in that solution you create several projects for each platform you want to support

- Halo_WindowsPhone(Windows Phone 8.1 WinRT)
- Halo_WindowsMetro (Windows 8.1 WinRT x86/64)
- Halo_WindowsDesktop8 (Windows 8.1 x86/64)
- Halo_WindowsDesktop7 (Windows 7 x86/64)
- Halo_WindowsRT (Windows 8.1 ARM)
- Halo_XboxOne (xxxxxx)
etc. etc.

(not all these project types are supported yet for universal targeting, like Windows 7/xbox one, but I included it because its possible as its purely a tooling solution and theres always ways to get around tooling roadblocks)

3. In the solution you create a "Shared Universal Project"

- Halo_Shared

The shared universal project is referenced/included in all the projects in 2 and it can contain UI(XAML) , CODE (C#/C++), CONTENT(Images/Textures/Audio etc)


So when the solution compiles it will build all the projects in 2 (generating several deployment binaries/exes and each of those will include the "SharedCode"


eg. of shared code is the HUD in a game can all be done in XAML which has a great dpi and scaling story .. This can be placed within the "SharedCode" and then ALL the projects in 2 can get the same HUD and hopefully it scales appropriately .. BUT you can customize it in each project if you code the UI a certain way

p.s heres a channel9 30min video showing how to create a Universal App story for Windows8.1/WindowsPhone8.1 if your interested ...
http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Building-Apps-for-Windows-Phone-8-1/22

 

[Davros]

Thanks.