I've spent the majority of my "coding free time" this past year working on an app for the Microsoft App to Cert Program. This week, I was finally able to finish it up and deploy it to the Windows Store! Huzzah!
The app is called Kwan (thank you, Rod Tidwell); it's a simple budget management tool for a household or small projects. There are more details about it on the Windows Store page if you're interested; I also created a project site for the app as well. It's still a bit rough around the edges I suppose, but I'm pretty happy with it as a first release. I have it submitted for review to the App to Cert program (which was really the impetus for creating the app in the first place), and hope to hear back about that in the not too distant future.
I also want to add that, even as a first-timer, I found the whole process of getting my app through the review and approval stages and into the store to be very quick and straightforward. I wasn't quite sure what to expect in terms of time or hurdles when I was preparing to submit; I've heard anecdotally from others or been involved in projects with other app stores where this part of the process became a real pain. However, the Windows Store was great to work with. Once you have a Developer account (it's only $19 for a personal account), you can push the app to the store right from Visual Studio with just a few clicks. The approval process for me took less than 24 hours from there. Kudos to the Windows Store team on that! I'm sure I'll get a chance to work with the Store again as post updates for Kwan, and hope I'll get the chance to build another app for the Windows Store in the not-too-distant-future.
It means love, respect, community... and the dollars too. The package. The kwan. - Rod Tidwell
