April Showers Lead To May Flowers…And An Updated Windows Store App

1420168_68577458I don’t know about you, but I’m so excited that May is upon us… it’s about time! The winter was starting to feel like it was never going to end! But it did give us an opportunity to use those not-so-great-weather days to get some updates done on the Canadian Developer Connection Windows Store app, which has now been updated in the Windows Store.

Here are the updates we’ve made:

Updated Layout

We’ve updated the layout to make it easier to access the different posts, events calendar, on-demand shows and sessions.

Now you’ll know the details of what you’re watching as the content is loading.

More frequent updates

Outfitted with a background task, the app now automatically gets the latest blog posts, events, and on-demand content when it is made available, rather than having to go into the app and check yourself if there’s something new. Now you can rest assured that you’re not missing anything.

Know what’s new right from your Start screen

With the automatic updates, you now also get updated Live Tiles that will alternate, showing the latest posts, videos, and more. These will keep you up to date right from your Start screen.

Event reminders

Using Toast Notifications, the app now reminds you of upcoming developer events – another way to make sure that you aren’t missing anything. If you wish, of course, you can turn these notifications off, as well as customize how far in advance you’d like to receive the notification.

Underneath the covers

Last but not least, we’ve also made several tweaks that you can’t see, but as a result, you’ll get a much better and faster experience as you use the app.

Download the app

So if you haven’t done so already, head over to the Windows Store and download the Canadian Developer Connection.

Have Suggestions? Encounter a bug?

Since we want to make sure that the Canadian Developer Connection is one of your favourite apps, if you think of something that the app is missing or can do better, please let us know – start a new conversation in the Canadian Developer Connection LinkedIn group with your thoughts. With a conversation going on LinkedIn, you can inspire others to contribute their feedback as well.

Hope you enjoy using the app as much as we’ve enjoyed making (and updating it)!

Special thanks to Sébastien Lachance for his continued work on the app

Sébastien Lachance is a software developer who specializes in Windows Store and Windows Phone app development.  When he’s not in front on a computer, he’s playing bridge (he’s even written an app for that), biking, and reading technical books.