Emailing a .xap file and how to sign - vb.net-2010

I am a newbie to windows app dev...mainly used vb.net 2010 for desktop applications. I wanted to dabble and made a simple app and in the /bin/release directory there is my .xap file.
I do not own a windows phone so am using the emulator, but when I emailed the xap file to my friend, she got the message about cant install company app.
I believe this is all about signing the app but how can I just email the file without the need for a certificate? Is is possible?

That's because you need to register a device as a developer device.
This is free and pretty easy to do.

Related

Signing exe with certificate doesn't solve the display of smartscreen

I'm developing C++ program. I generate a certificate from our PKI Solution configured in our company(Microsoft). I sign my .exe using the certificate(generated). But when I make my file on the server (internet) and download it, I have the problem of displaying SmartScreen.What should I do to make my .exe works well in all computer of our company? Should I buy a certificate to sign my code? Sign my code with root certificate?
I think problem is your application has downloaded a few users and the reputation is unknown to Microsoft
P.S. And you can distribute your program in Microsoft Store

Questions about Windows App (Metro) Tiles/Icons for desktop applications

I have an application written in VB.NET that I want to move to Win10. It will always be a desktop application, however I would like it to have a start icon / tile in Win 10. Looking around I found this exact question which suggests to create a Metro App (now I believe called Windows App) which launches the desktop app. This is also discussed in this thread. So the questions;
These threads are a little old is the best way in Win10 to give a desktop app a Windows App Tile by using a Windows App as the Launcher for the desktop app?
It appears that in Win10 Microsoft has now allowed non-store apps to be installed in Update Security > SideloadApps. This needs to be enabled to install the App, but does this need to be always enabled. For example what happens after install if the user turns it off, will the app then not start?
For example I see in this link that there are 2 Registry keys to change, basically AllowAllTrustedApps and AllowDevelopmentWithoutDevLicense. Is it possible for my desktop installer to change these keys, install the Windows App (and everything else) and then change the keys back again?
Uninstalling? If I created a Windows App which only launched my desktop app then there is a possibility that the user uninstalls or deletes the Windows App, meaning my desktop app would be orphaned and lost. Any suggestion on solving this?
According to your description, I think what you need is Desktop Bridge. There is no need to use a Windows App as the Launcher for the desktop app.
You can try with Desktop App Converter, with this you can bring your existing desktop apps written for .NET 4.6.1 or Win32 to the Universal Windows Platform (UWP).
And after converting, you can replace the Assets generated by Desktop App Converter (DAC) automatically to provide custom Tiles/Icons. For more, you can refer to Manually convert your app to UWP using the Desktop Bridge.

Can I install my own Windows Phone App on a real device without uploading the app to Store?

I'm new to windows phone, and I don't have a real device to test on.
I know that one can install .XAP files from SD card.. but does this process reqires internet access to check that the app is on the store or I just installs it as in Android?
Thanks in advance
You can debug your app on your physical device in Visual Studio. Your device has to be connected via usb cabel to your computer and has to be developer unlocked. You can developer unlock your phone with the Windows Phone Developer Registration Tool, which is a part of the Windows Phone SDK. You can find more information about the process here.
No, you cannot install the xap package on other people devices until unless their phones are not developer unlocked. When you build a .xap package in Release mode, you need to first upload it to Store where the Microsoft team checks package for security concerns. Once that has been checked, package verified, then the packages can be installed, basically uploading the app.
To debug the app, its better to unlock your friend's phone and then test it on it. After that if you wish you can also un-register the phone to revert back to original developer locked mode.
There is one more method which I use when my app is completed but do not wish to release the app on store, but instead, I wish that first these apps be used by my friends first, they give feedback and after that I finally submit the app on Store.
To do this, I submit the app in private visibility on Store. There is an option while submitting the app which indicates whether you want that other users can see your app on phone. I mark it Hidden. Once my app is verified and is on store, I download the app from store by going to the appropriate link of app on store which is given in app profile at dev-center. I choose 'Download and Install Manually' option to download the xap. This xap can be installed on other devices without unlocking their device.

Monitor changes made by a desktop app to a file created by my Windows Store app

I'm making a Windows Store app that gets files from a server and store it locally for quick access. I also want to make it sync the file with Dropbox and push changes to Dropbox if the user make any. I looked into CachedFileUpdater and it seems to work if I use another Windows Store app to edit the file. However I ran into a great trouble trying to monitor changes made by a desktop app. This matters a lot because many files are office documents and Office 2013 is available to Windows RT and I would also like the app to be available to Windows 8.
First I tried to use CachedFileUpdater on all files but when I open the file using a desktop app, it will be opened in read-only mode and I can't save it in desktop mode. If I dont use it if the user chooses to open it with desktop app, the change will be saved but later my app won't be able to access that file somehow. I guess it is because the owner changes to the desktop app. Now not only I seem to have no way to monitor the file changes, but also can't I access those changes once it is modified by a desktop app.\
Is there some trick that may help? Thank you very much!

Accessing application's documents from device through USB?

I'm working with a Windows Phone 8 application that writes logs to a file on the device. Is there a way to get access to that file? If not, what are my alternatives to seeing log information outside of using Visual Studio?
Yes you can read the file from isolated storage as long as it's a developer app installed on a developer unlocked phone. I use the Windows Phone Power Tools to do this, and there is a command line tool that comes with the SDK itself as well called IseTool.exe.
For your own access you can just use the advice in Paul's answer. If you want to get the files from other users you can use the Email Task and attach the log file to the email and have it sent to you or use some form of server logging.