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What's next for Windows Phone 8 developers

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[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]

If you’re a developer with an existing Windows Phone 8 app, you might be wondering what the Windows Phone 8.1 release means for you, your app, and your Windows Phone development skill set. Here are some simple questions and answers that can help you decide what you want to do next. If you’re new to developing for Windows Phone, we recommend that you begin with the new, converged documentation for Windows Store and Windows Phone Store apps. To get started, go to Windows Runtime app development.

What are my options?

As a developer with an existing Windows Phone 8 app, there are three ways you can move forward with your app development. And, because you can have both your Windows Phone 8 app and a new Windows Phone 8.1 version of your app available in the Store at the same time, you can choose more than one of these options.

  • Keep your Windows Phone 8 app

  • Update to a Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1 version of your app

  • Port to a Windows Phone Store version of your app

The following table asks some questions that you might have when you’re trying to decide how to move forward with your app development and gives you an answer for each of the three app models now supported for Windows Phone.

Keep your Windows Phone 8 app

Tell me more

Your Windows Phone Silverlight 8 app will continue to work exactly as it is, both on Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 8.1 phones. You can still add fixes and new functionality to your app using the new tools.

Which option is right for me?

If your app works great on Windows Phone 8, and you don’t need to add new Windows Phone 8.1 features, then you can keep it as it is.

How much work is involved?

None. Your app will continue to work as-is.

What phones will my app run on?

Your app will continue to run on phones with Windows Phone 8 installed on them, and it will run on phones with Windows Phone 8.1 installed on them, too. Not only will new phones have Windows Phone 8.1 installed, but any current phone that can run Windows Phone 8 can be updated to Windows Phone 8.1 for free.

Where can I get more info?

Windows Phone 8 documentation will continue to be available. Bookmark Windows Phone Silverlight development to go straight to the Windows Phone 8 docs. When you’re looking at API reference topics, look in the Requirements table in each topic for “Minimum Supported OS: Windows Phone 8”.