The Windows/Windows Phone Store now open for Universal apps

With likely several million new Windows Phone 8.1 users roaming around looking for apps to take advantage of the new OS, the good news is that Microsoft has also opened up the Windows Phone Store to accepting Universal apps and other Windows Phone 8.1 apps.

In a blog post Microsoft announced:

1. Linking Windows Store and Windows Phone apps to create a universal Windows app to allow buy on one platform and use on all.

3. Credit card validation for developers no longer required

4. Consolidated price tiers with the new $0.99 and $1.29 tiers for Windows apps to match Windows Phone.

5. Consistent certification policies, matching Windows Phone with Windows 8 store policies.

For Windows Phone Specifically they also announced:

1. Windows Phone 8.1 package submissions, allowing developers to submit WP8.1 Universal Runtime and Silverlight 8.1 apps.

2. One app, multiple packages, Linking provides a ‘get once and download for all compatible Windows devices’ customer experience,meaning Windows Phone 7.8 and 8 users will automatically be presented with a legacy XAP while WP 8.1 users will get APPX.

3. Simplified package targeting

4. Redesigned Dev Center

5. Reduced certification times

Read more detail at Microsoft here.