This year was again a turbulent one for us. We had a few ups and downs, but overall we enjoyed it. What happened this year at MSiccDev?
Bringing UniShare to the PC with the UWP version
This year, we finally did the next step and brought UniShare to the PC with launching our all new written UWP app. We had a great team of beta testers finding out a ton of bugs, helping to make UniShare a powerful and great app. Thanks to all of you again, without your help UniShare would not be as awesome as it is now. We kept improving UniShare and added some cool new features, including translations into more languages, a connection to our SimpleLeet Converter as well as a Translation feature into Klingon.
But we do not stop here. The current situation of Windows Mobile (formerly known as Windows Phone) is difficult. That’s why we had to move on and started development of UniShare for Android. Here is a sneak preview:
Releasing the official WindowsUnited.de app as public beta in the Google Play Store
Also this year, we published Windows United for Android, which is our first public Android application in the Google Play Store. WindowsUnited is a German Microsoft news page, and we are happy to develop their official apps for both Android and iOS. The Android application is a public beta, everyone can download it for free from the store. We target a final release in early 2017 and will also launch an iOS version in 2017.
We will continue to work on these two projects in 2017, and you will see also some new stuff from our side.
So, let’s say goodbye to 2016 and look ahead to 2017 by wishing you and your families a happy new year.
Today, we are happy to finally announce our all new universal app version of UniShare, expanding the sharing experience to the Desktop/Tablet and Continuum.
We worked hard to make sharing as easy as possible, and also added new features and networks.
Here is the feature list:
share easily across up to 10 networks (with more to come!)
supported networks in Pro version: Twitter (up to 3 accounts, LinkedIn, Facebook (personal account plus pages you are admin/contributer), Tumblr, Pocket (saving links for later), Geeklist, Path, Slack (up to 5 teams), Reddit, vk.com
choose from a broad range of picture upload packages (from 5 pics for free up to unlimited)
create and use sharing profiles to easily target the right audience for your content
mentioning of users you are following on Twitter, your Facebook friends or team members on Slack
shorten links with Bit.ly, using your existing account to enable statistics
share pictures to networks that do not support direkt image upload like LinkedIn and Reddit, using imgur.com
our UserVoice is built in for faq, your suggestions and also support tickets
many more features to come with future updates, including translation to more languages
Sadly, we had to keep some of the features you all loved on Windows Phone 8.1 out in this version:
Cortana support will be back with one of the next updates
picture editor will also be back with one of the next updates
XMusicShare is not likely to come back – due to the fact we are not able to get the current playing song on Windows 10. If this ever changes, we’ll add it back in, promised!
We have big plans with UniShare. In fact, our ‘features we want to build in’ list is as long as the list of what we have already built in the current version. Some of them are advanced features that require additional resources, that’s why we had to change our pricing model. We are introducing Pro subscriptions for 1, 3, 6 or 12 month with Windows 10.
To give you all a chance to explore the new universal app, we are running a special launch sales until the end of June on the Pro licenses:
1 Month Pro for free!
3 Month Pro for the price of 1
6 Month Pro for the price of 3
1 Year Pro for the price of 6
In the same timespan, we will also randomly post codes for 1 Year-Pro subscriptions on Twitter or on Facebook, make sure you are following us to not miss your chance to snag one for free!
On top of the Pro licenses, we have also added some picture upload packages, in case you do not want/need a Pro license:
We hope you all will enjoy the new version of UniShare across your Windows devices and look forward to your reviews in the store. If you have ideas on how to improve the app, feel free to use the built in UserVoice functionality (it is hidden in the three dot menu).
If the Store tells you that ‘something happened on our end’, please be patient. Microsoft told us that it will get fixed all alone within the next few hours (and we’re monitoring it as well).
Are your writing for a news page and plan to write about the new version? Get in contact with us, we may provide some codes for Pro licenses that you can provide to your readers.
While we are working on UniShare for Windows 10 and are close for another update on our beta, we have also found the need of testing some of the new features that Microsoft provides with Windows 10. Simple Leet is the result of our test, and we liked it so much that we decided to publish it as one of our public apps.
Simple Leet Universal easily converts text into leet speak. It supports five levels of conversion and allows you to copy the converted text to your clipboard for pasting in anywhere else or use the Windows share mechanism to spread the converted text.
What is really cool about this app is – other developers can easily call the converter mechanism from within their apps. We integrated a so called ApplicationService, that provides that functionality. All other developers need to do is to integrate this package in their app to provide this functionality in their app.
We’ll continue to improve this app as well over time, the next big feature will be to let you customize how each letter gets converted.
Today, we are opening the UniShare Windows 10 beta to more users. UniShare is now a true universal app, that runs on both your PC/tablet and your phone. On Top, UniShare already supports Continuum!
Here is what you get with UniShare on Windows 10:
share your social updates to up to 10 networks
new networks: Slack and Reddit
images can now be shared across all networks, thanks to the use of Imgur
the url shortener of our choice is Bitly – and you can now use your own account to shorten links (we use your standard settings)
mention your friends is now also availabe for Facebook and the newly added Slack teams support mentioning as well
What’s missing:
Due to the fact that we are no longer able to detect the song you’re playing, the music share feature is currently not available. We are evaluationg ways to replace this function
the image editor – due to the new platform of Windows 10, we need to completely rewrite the image editor
Cortana integreation (we’ll bring it back, promised!)
on Windows 10 mobile, UniShare currently only supports portrait orientation
If you want to help and improve the next evolution of UniShare, you are only a step away. Just hit this link http://bit.ly/unishare10beta and register for our beta.
We are using Slack for all questions and feedback on the beta. That’s why you will receive two emails after registration – one with the link to the beta, and the invitation to our Slack team.
Please note that we limit the number of new registrations (once the limit is reached we will take down the registration page). All beta testers that provide valuable feedback will be rewarded once the application becomes generally available.
We’re looking forward to chat with our new testers on Slack.