For those that didn’t know, Microsoft has a free online app creation tool called Windows App Studio Beta, which allows a user to create an app regardless of experience. App Studio is designed to help people easily create an app by applying text, web content, images, and design concepts to a set of templates. App Studio is a great way for a new developer to get their feet wet.

Things just got even more amazing with App Studio. Thanks to a new update, Microsoft is now allowing people to create a Windows 10 app via the Windows App Studio Beta creation tool. These apps are built using the new Windows Universal Platform, allowing you to generate apps for both Windows 10 Insider Preview and Windows 8.1 (including Windows Phone 8.1).

The updated App Studio now takes advantage of Live Tiles, Xbox Music Data Source, Bing Maps, Application Insights (an analytics service to monitor app usage and performance), and more.

“The platform includes a set of new controls that enable responsive design, meaning that app content looks great on a wide range of devices and window sizes. The SplitView and VisualStateTrigger controls, along with menu navigation provided by the “hamburger button” (three horizontal lines) in the upper left, are key elements of this new design approach. When you use App Studio to target the Windows 10 Insider Preview, your apps will use these controls to lay out content and reflow it smoothly and responsively,” Microsoft explains in an official blog post.

All you have to do is log into the redesigned Windows App Studio website and click Start now! The Windows 10 Store will be open for app submissions later this summer, but you can get started now by testing your newly created apps on your devices. Once the app is generated, App Studio allows you to download both the app packages (to sideload to your devices for testing) and the Visual Studio project that lets you access your source code. Give it a shot and let us know how you like it!

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