As we reported earlier today, Microsoft's has revealed some of the new features along with the hardware and software limitations of the upcoming lower cost Windows Phone devices such as the Lumia 610. These phones, which will have the "Tango" software update, will have an upper limit of 256 MB of memory and as such not all of the current Windows Phone apps will be able to run on those devices.
Today the Windows Phone developers blog site has some helpful hints for app developers to make sure their creations are able to run on Windows Phone devices with that new lower limit in place.
Microsoft's Mike Battista says that one way to optimize a Windows Phone app is to keep the app's startup time as fast as possible. He states:
The basic guidance here is to defer as much activity as possible until the first frame of your application is rendered. This means minimizing code in App/Page constructors and keeping Launching/OnNavigatedTo activity minimal.
The simple task of adding a splash screen to a Windows Phone app can also increase its startup time. The reason, according to Battista, is that " ... this frame is drawn by the OS itself as part of the launch sequence."
Memory leaks can also decrease an app's performance. Battista gives an example of such a situation: "Apps which use a home button, for instance, can result in circular navigation loops which can fill the back stack with redundant page instances."
Creating a responsive and efficient user interface for a Windows Phone app can also help when they are run on Tango-based lower cost phones. Battista says:
Balancing the tradeoff between style and performance is a decision that should be made per app. If transition animations are causing performance problems in your app, disabling them completely, or at least on low-memory devices only, can significantly improve in-app navigation performance.
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