Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/lorilalonde/archive/2014/01/31/creating-an-app-with-windows-phone-app-studiondashpart-3.aspx
So you read my previous posts, Creating An App With Windows Phone App Studio - Part 1 and Creating An App With Windows Phone App Studio - Part 2, became inspired, and decided to use App Studio to design a fully FUNctional app Now what?
In the final step of the Windows Phone App Studio wizard, you are given the option to generate your app so that you can install it on your personal Windows Phone device, or you can visit the summary page of the application to have a look at what you have accomplished thus far.
Generating the App
Let’s generate the app so you can download it on your device. Click the Generate app link. This will raise a message to let you know it may take a few minutes to complete the app generation, and ask if you wish to continue. Click the checkmark button to proceed with the app generation.
At this point, you will see a progress indicator screen as shown below.
When the app has been created, a Congrats message will be displayed. As you can see, you have a long list of options available to you. You can choose to:
· install the Windows Phone App Studio Certificate,
· install the newly created app to your device,
· download the app’s source code,
· download the app’s publish package,
· share your app by email, or
· continue editing the app
Since the point of this post is to demonstrate how to install the app onto your personal Windows Phone device, let’s carry on down that path.
Installing the Certificate
Before installing your newly created app to a device, you will need to install the Windows Phone App Studio Certificate. You can do this in one of two ways:
1) Click the “Install the Certificate” link in the Congrats page shown below, or
2) Click the link that was sent to you via email by App Studio
Clicking the “Install the Certificate” link displays a QR Code which you can scan from your device by tapping the Search device button to bring up Bing, and tapping the Vision icon in the application bar. Scan the QR code by pointing your device directly at it. A URL will appear when the scan is successful. This is the direct link to download your certificate.
Tap the URL that is displayed. When the URL is tapped, you should receive a prompt indicating “Tap to Open”. Tap to install the certificate.
Trouble installing certificate?
If you are anything like me, then you most certainly have experienced Murphy’s Law firsthand (you know… the old adage “if something can go wrong, it will”). In my case, installing the certificate just wasn’t happening. The email link nor the QR code scan worked. I just was left at a “Tap to Open” prompt that did nothing when tapped.
In this case, I managed to come across a helpful reply by Richard Baily regarding a post on the Microsoft forums that brought up this issue.
He simply suggested to download the certificate on a laptop using the link provided in the original email sent by App Studio, and email it back to yourself as an attachment (use an email account that is set up on your device). On the device, open the attachment, at which point you will be prompted to install the certificate. Done and done.
Installing the App
Simply scan the QR code displayed on the Congrats page. As with the certificate, successfully scanning this QR code will provide you with a URL that is a direct link to download the app to your device. You will receive a confirmation asking if you wish to install the app from Microsoft Corporation.
Click the install button to proceed. And just like that, you have a shiny brand new app to play with on your device!
Revisiting Your App From the Dashboard
When you go back to your Dashboard, you will notice that the status of your app has been updated to indicate that it has been generated, along with the date and time of generation, when your mouse hovers over the app’s tile in the Dashboard.
Click on the app tile to view the App Summary page. The App Summary page allows you to regenerate your app, edit or delete the app, download the source code or publish package, re-install the app through the QR Code that is displayed, or share your app by email. You can also view the generation history, and other details about your app (logo, description, images from your data source collections, etc).
In Summary
In a few easy steps, which I managed to convert into lengthy blog posts, you can see that Windows Phone App Studio provides you with a healthy selection of pre-defined templates that you can leverage to quickly create an app from your imagination and install it onto your device in no time at all!