Windows App Studio Beta allows you to download your complete source code package to be edited in Visual Studio, providing countless opportunities for the types of apps that can be built. Adding Azure Mobile Services to your app allows you to host your own database collections to increase size and capabilities. In this post, Josh Drew discusses the benefits of App Studio and integrating an Azure Mobile Services database into your App Studio app.

Windows App Studio Beta is a great online tool to get a Windows Phone app or Windows Store app built in no time. With social connections, RSS feeds and data collections, it is robust enough to build the app of your choice. With a simple drag-and-drop interface, along with a few configurations, an app can be created and published to the Store in very little time.

The other benefit to Windows Phone App Studio is the ability to download the source code to extend your app. Adding new styles, XAML controls or extending your app to consume Azure Mobile Services can all be done by opening the solution in Visual Studio.

Adding Azure Mobile Services to your app is the next logical progression when extending your app, especially if you are currently leveraging the Data Collection service provided by the online tool. Adding Azure to Windows Phone App Studio projects is straightforward, whether you are adding more records to the database, integrating with an existing database or just using it for the first time.

Jump into the tutorial and add Azure to your app.