This is the Day #7 & last post in the article series “7 Deadly Sins for Windows Phone Developers!“.

What is Lust ?

From http://deadlysins.com:

Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.

Why: Oh, please.

How does Lust relate to Windows Phone development ?

— excessive desires ..

Upfront, we’re not going try to map Lust in the true sexual sense, since that would be difficult & a slippery slope :). Let’s see how we Windows Phone developers can be wary against being over-zealous. Zest is good; craving without taking any appropriate action – not so much:

• Bandwidth: Coming from a strong web background, we developers might end up blatantly using the user’s bandwidth. While rich content is good, we need to be aware that the phone is a mobile wireless device & not everyone is on an unlimited data plan. So, think twice when making data requests from the phone & have a solid caching strategy when possible. Use the DeviceNetworkInformation API to figure out state of network connections; may be we can do some heavy-lifting when appropriate (like data sync through ResourceIntensiveTasks while on WiFi).
• Start-Up: While a dynamic flashy panorama/pivot home screen on your App may be a lucrative proposition, be aware of the cost. You only have a few seconds on the Splash page (if using one) before loading up the Home screen/MainPage. And while you can dummy up a Splash-screen-like pop-up on Home screen (like here), users usually do not want to wait too long. Consider using cached data from prior run of the App & indicate visually that you are fetching fresh data. And any time you are working with pop-up or login pages that you do not want to leave in page Backstack, make sure to clear them up.
• Live Tiles: You desire your App to be like ones built by the cool kids. Don’t worry, we all do. One of the best favors you can do for your App is to support Live Tiles. This is one of the unique selling points of the platform, epitomizes Glance & Go and keeps inviting the user back into your App. Application Live Tiles or Secondary Live Tiles with backend support would be great; at the very least, you should consider presenting a slice of your App data as a local Secondary Live Tile.
• Emulator Skins: We grew up knowing it’s not polite to stare, right? Yet when it comes to fancy new gadgets like smartphones, we openly drool .. and you know what, it’s ok :). Sadly, we live in a society of perpetual buyer’s remorse where newer electronics tickle our wallets every day. Now, fancy new Windows Phones will come up every now & then, which you may not be able to jump to given your contract cage. However, instead of drooling, you can go one step closer while you develop Apps for Windows Phone. Check out the cool Windows Phone Emulator Skin Switcher — choose between any one of 25 different Windows Phone skins. Or make one yourself. If you’re doing Windows Phone Dev on spare time, might as well make it a little fun!
• Marketplace Woes: In the zest to get our dream App live in the Marketplace, we can all get trigger-happy in Marketplace submissions; but beware of these potential ingestion hiccups. Also, some newer Markets may have additional Certification obligations to meet local regulations .. check all details with the Application Certification Requirements. If you go with worldwide distribution, your certification time would be longer and your App will be subject to extra scrutiny. If you see failures, resubmit after fixing the issues or you could deselect the troubled Markets to get your App live in the Marketplace quicker.

Today is the last article in this series of “7 Deadly Sins for Windows Phone Developers!“. Apologies if the tone of anything I said sounded awkward .. by things “you” need to do, I really meant me. I simply wanted to document all the resources I want to keep in mind during my next Windows Phone app. Hope the articles were somewhat fun .. thank you very much for reading. Lot of good times ahead for us Windows Phone developers .. cheers to that.

Adios!