It's no surprise that our LCARS apps are the bulk of our publicly available Windows applications. As such we are always doing lots of work on them to improve everyone's experiences across all platforms. This one is a bit long, but there's lots of good stuff towards the end!
Microsoft has been doing a lot of work to consolidate their Windows 8 and Windows Phone platforms lately, and we are working diligently to keep up with having our apps using the latest technologies, in addition to supporting the older versions of Windows Phone as much as we can also.
When it comes to Windows Phone, the path of least resistance would be to build a WP7 app that will run on WP7.1+, WP8.0, and WP8.1 just the same. We aren't going that route. Why? Well first off, we started out with just Windows 8! Then due to your feedback, we moved to WP8. Due to more feedback, we then added a WP7 app! Our wacky development path aside, we also think that if you buy a new phone, or Microsoft updates the OS on your existing phone, you should be able to get something new for it! While Windows Phone 7.5 is still a pretty good phone OS, it certainly doesn't have the same capabilities as WP8.0 or WP8.1. We want to take advantage of everything available on all platforms, and so we deal with supporting 3 versions of the Windows Phone apps. We have gotten very good at making this process more efficient though in terms of sharing code and being aware of platform differences, so supporting all 3 isn't as much of an effort as it was originally before we overhauled everything earlier this year.
So where do we go from here? Well, in addition to our LCARS Trek (formerly known as LCARS Simulator) game now being a Universal app that can be used on both Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone (7, 8, or 8.1!), we are looking to take even more advantage of Universal apps to add some value to those of you that use them! What does that mean? Let's see...
LCARS Interface has been a bit of a mixed bag since it started out with only 3 modules almost 2 years ago. It started as a few LCARS styled tools, and has grown into an entire suite of modules from simple tools, to the LCARS Trek game being integrated, and other additional starship control panels. This became an issue when we made the Windows Phone version, since the phone platform has many more restrictions with memory use, among other things like the actual form factor of the device that made it impossible to keep them fully in sync when it comes to features. Now that Universal apps are a thing, we want to take advantage of that. But the discrepancy between the two versions makes that impossible at present. How can we fix this problem? Well, stripping out features from the Windows 8 version is not going to happen, but we want to make the features in the Phone version for those who bought it available on Windows 8 without having to buy the more expensive version there, much like we just did with the LCARS Trek game. As such, we need to do some more name changing.
So the breakdown for the platforms goes much like this. The new app names are of course subject to change as we get farther along.
LCARS Suite (Windows 8/8.1 only): The new name for the current LCARS Interface app that will continue to include the features of all the other LCARS apps currently available, so nobody who has purchased that version will have to buy anything else. This includes all starship console simulations, LCARS Trek, and the LCARS styled tools. This app's features will always be in sync with updates to the other individual apps, so you will not be missing anything that will require buying the other apps! Due to the things mentioned above, this app will not be available on Windows Phone. If you own a Windows Phone and have not purchased the current Windows 8 app, you may want to wait a little while and you will have Universal apps you can use for everything. We want to add more value to those purchasing the phone apps which have to be individual.
LCARS Trek: This recent release and renaming of LCARS Simulator game for Windows Phone is now currently available for both platforms as a Universal app!
LCARS Interface (or possibly renamed to something else): This will be a Universal app with a new Windows 8.1 version of the current Windows Phone LCARS Interface app, and include just the productivity tools (Logs, Calculator, Weather, Document viewers, etc). There may be slight variations between the Windows 8 app and the phone app due to platform specific capabilities, but that already exists between them,
LCARS Starship Simulator: This will be a new Universal app (release date TBD) which will add much entertainment value! The current ship consoles from the Windows 8 LCARS Interface app will be rebuilt to run on our new starship core framework which is a fully functioning "starship" in which you can control all of the primary systems! These systems interact with each other, unlike the current implementations, giving you a fully interactive experience! We have been working on this behind the scenes for quite some time. We still have a ways to go, but this is what many of you have been asking about for a while, and we want to deliver it! Some possibilities for this may include being able to link multiple devices together so your entire crew can operate your ship at the same time! We may also be able to add new features such as different ship classes.
So there it is! That's where we are planning to go from here, in order to maximize the use of Universal apps to add as much value as possible (and not require everyone to purchase the apps separately on each platform like they currently do!) while also not taking anything away from the current LCARS Interface app already used by thousands. It's more work for us, but we'll gladly take that over making things worse for our users! You all have been very supportive with great feedback, and great app reviews in the stores! As long as you keep supporting us, we will keep supporting you!
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