With Microsoft now letting app makers download the Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview, the company is also allowing them to upload their apps made for the latest OS version to the Dev Center, for posting in the Windows Phone Store.
In a blog post, Microsoft also announced it was accepting "universal" apps" that link between the Windows 8, RT and Windows Phone platforms. As we have reported before, this will allow app makers to give consumers a way to download and pay for one app and have it work across all three Windows operating systems.
Microsoft has also added some other new features to Dev Center today, including a way to reserve a name for a Windows Phone 8.1 app for up to 12 months. A credit card will no longer be needed for identity validation, nor during the registration process. It also is no longer required for enabling PayPal as a registration payment and renewal option.
The Windows Phone Dev Center has also received a new design that will allow app makers a better way to find documentation. Microsoft is promising that the certification process has been reduced, with some apps getting approved within a few hours.
Later this month, the Dev Center will get some additional features, such as support for putting in promotional pricing in Windows apps and a way to designate if an app has been designed for touch enabled devices.
Source: Microsoft