Microsoft pushes December 2015 update for Windows App Studio Beta, last one for the year

Mark Coppock

If you’re a Windows 10 developer and you’re looking to get some development done in Microsoft’s Windows App Studio Beta, you might want to check its status. The company is pushing out its December 2015 update, and that should be the last one for the year.
The update appears to focus on making apps look good, more easily pull data from various sources, and make advertising more effective. Here are the highlights.

Pulling in data and advertising

  • WordPress Data Source: pull content from a WordPress blog
  • Related Content: Easily display related content in an app section, e.g., show speaker information for an event listing
  • Microsoft Advertising: new Microsoft Ad control enables advertising to be placed in apps

Design updates

  • New Carousel Control: display images in a section that behave like a slideshow
Windows App Studio Beta Update Carousel
Windows App Studio Beta Update December 2015 update Carousel control.
  • Improved Second Design Features: change the background and make image adjustments for sections individually and control how sections appear on app’s home/default section

New templates

  • WordPress Template: utilizes WordPress data source to showcase blog data
Windows App Studio Beta Update WordPress Template
Windows App Studio Beta December 2015 update WordPress Template.
  • Events: uses Related Content functionality to build event information source for attendees
Windows App Studio Beta Update WordPress Events Template
Windows App Studio Beta December 2015 update Events Template
  • My Shop: display a catalog of products or portfolio for creative and content professionals

Windows App Studio Beta Update WordPress My Shop Template
Windows App Studio Beta December 2015 update My Shop Template.

That’s all for the Windows App Studio Beta for 2015, and we’re looking forward to seeing what Microsoft enables for 2016. As always, head on over to the developers forum and User Voice section to give the company your feedback.