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Approaches to develop Windows Phone 8.1 app

· One min read

There are three approaches to develop Windows Phone 8.1 apps XAML Apps. I like third 'Use Windows XAML platform' approach as most of the users upgrade WP8 to WP8.1.

ApproachPros & Cons
Keep using Silverlight 7.x/8(Windows Phone 8 platform)Pros
  • Will run on Windows Phone 8.1 and also runs on earlier Windows Phone devices
Cons
  • No new platform capabilities
  • Will not enable targeting of Windows
Use Silverlight 8.1 (Move Silverlight app into new execution stack and app package)Pros
  • Enables to use new APIs and platform capabilities
Cons
  • Will not enable targeting of Windows
  • Will not run on Windows Phone 8 devices
Use Windows XAML platformPros
  • Enables targeting of Windows and Windows Phone
  • Takes full advantage of new APIs and platform capabilities
  • Better performance
  • Reduced memory use
Cons
  • Will not run on Windows Phone 8 devices