metroIf you want to pass the certification test at the excellence lab to get a token for the Windows 8 store, you need to attend an app excellence lab and read the tips below.

Last week I attended the excellence lab here in Montreal. It is a great experience as I learned more on what you actually can implement in your app and all these amazing windows 8 features. Also, Microsoft engineers will advise you on what you could use and other ideas that would make your app best at . For those who don’t know what is an Excellence Lab Read here!

So this is how it went, I was confidence that my app is about 80 –90 % done. Surprisingly this is not what I expected, it’s seems that my app as functionality is 80 % done but it’s about 50 % from a windows 8 design aspect.

Here are the tips they gave me when I attended the lab.

  • Page should take less than 5 seconds to load
    1. Solution Load page and then show a progress bar
    2. Solution Load only for example top/random 5 of each group.
  • App should behaves well while off-line and on intermittent network connectivity
    1. Solution Use caching to save the data.
  • App must have at least an about page in the settings charm.
  • App must support Keyboard , Mouse ,Touch
    1. Keyboard Handling browsing content through a keyboard using Key up,Key down… events.
    2. Mouse Handle selecting tiles when using right click. *If your app supports selecting tiles*
    3. Touch Handle selecting tiles “right click using a mouse” as it might crash. *If your app supports selecting tiles*
  • Navigations should not be placed in the appbar.
  • Commands such as add,edit,delete,save … should be placed in the appbar.
  • Do not use toast notification or modal dialogs for error handling.
    1. Solution Error handling is inline
  • App should adapt to different form factors and aspect ratios
  • App should handle snapped, filled, and full view states
  • App should properly handle activation from contracts, secondary tiles, and notifications .*If you are using any*

After all, I got my token and I’m so excited to be one of the first having my app in the store.

If you got an app and its above 60% completed and you still didn’t book an appointment for an app lab then we got good news for you, we added another week from June 25th – June 29th which you can do remotely.

How do I register for a lab?

Review the app-building content from the Windows Developer Centre to learn the fundamentals of building a great Metro-style Windows 8 App.

Create a Windows 8 Metro-style app (or game) TODAY. Get it ready as if you were submitting it to the store for certification.

Read through all of the great UX Guidelines online in the design section of the Windows Developer Centre.

Contact win8cdn@microsoft.com and include the following information:

  • Your Name
  • Your Address information
  • A brief application description (no binary, optional screenshot, but only send if the screenshot is not confidential)
  • Wait for Thomas Lewis to respond letting you know where and when the closest lab will be, at which point we’ll schedule a time slot that is mutually beneficial.

Book your appointment as this will be your chance to have your app the first in the store before everyone else.