Want to dev-unlock your Windows Phone? Here are your options.

Pretty colors!

And then y'all got a Windows Phone for Christmas? Sweetness. If you're a programmer, yous're probably itching to start writing code for the device. If an avant-garde hobbyist, homebrew software may be more than of your interest. While the emulator -- a part of the Windows Phone SDK -- rocks for testing locally, you'll somewhen want to try the existent bargain by loading up XAPs on your phone. We'll cover the pros and cons of each approach to do then.

Microsoft App Hub

The App Hub is development of what was previously called the XNA Creators Club,offering a hub for both Xbox Live and Windows Telephone development. With the purchase of a subscription costing$99 USD per year, you'll proceeds access to human technical back up and more than chiefly access to the Marketplace where you lot tin sell your shiny wares. If you tin afford it or know you take the side by side killer app (to embrace the yearly dues) -- we say go for it. Our friends exterior Market place Launch areas, like those in the Middle E, will have admission to App Hub via a proxy participating in the Microsoft Global Publisher Program. (Yalla Apps is a great example.) Information technology's also worth noting students, via the Dreamspark initiative, can get that fee waived if eligible. (A steal!)

Pros: Original Microsoft solution, Marketplace publish access, technical support. Can unlock iii devices.
Cons: Information technology's expensive ($99 USD/yr). Tin vary if using a GPP proxy.

Only some developers tin can't or won't make that commitment. They may want to practise their C# skills or play with some crazy experimental lawmaking from a neighbor. In any case, at that place are try-before-you-buy-App-Hub options at your disposal:

Jaxbot'south WindowBreak

Using XDA Developers' Heathcliff74'southward original package as a start, another XDA Developers member,Jaxbot, made some tweaks to simplify the deployment mechanism. Rather than deploy the package using a PC (i.e. sideload), requiring an already unlocked device, his solution involves visiting a specially crafted webpage. That ease of utilize, however, comes at a price -- limiting compatibility to just Samsung devices at the moment. (He'southward working on this and soon expects it to be as compatible every bit Heathcliff74's original offering.)

Pros: Costless, offers coveted "interop access", easy to install
Cons: Just (currently) works on Samsung phones, will break if Microsoft patches hole

ChevronWP7 Labs

The ChevronWP7 Labs experiment-- deriving its name from the already missed Stargate franchise -- was put together by Rafael Rivera, Chris Walsh, and Long Zheng, and is an evolution of the original ChevronWP7 unlocker. The team was given a rare opportunity past Microsoft to offering a cheaper, non gratis, solution by decoupling the phone unlocking mechanism from App Hub. (That means no Market publishing.) For $9 USD, 'Labs will (legimitately) unlock any Windows Phone yous have for the life of that device. No Microsoft vs. hacker true cat and mouse game participiation required. The downside is that you don't get that coveted "interop admission" the other solutions provide. Simply you could, of form, combine this unlock method with perhaps another. Coughing.

Pros:Vetted by Microsoft, easy to utilise, uniform with all devices, time to come proof
Cons: Not gratuitous ($nine USD), no "interop access" out of the box

As you tin can meet, there are quite a few options for programmer unlocking your Windows Phone. Each has their pros and cons and which one is "best" depends on your short and long-term goals. Tinker tots not unfamiliar with flashing their devices and working out problems volition be happy with the free offerings. Those looking for less trouble and a longer-term solution would probably exist improve suited with ChevronWP7 Labs or a total blown App Hub subscription. Regardless, when you get that crawly app written let usa know.

Full discosure: I piece of work with 'Walsh, and 'Zheng on the ChevronWP7 Labs experiment. This guide was designed to simply lay out the facts in a digestible format. I have no intention to mislead the public for financial gain of any kind. The comparing chart's columns are sorted by consumer usefulness (light-green).

Revision note: Heathcliff's XAP was removed from the guide. I forgot information technology required a developer unlocked device, hence the development of WindowBreak. Pitiful most that! Too much 'nog. (Thanks @Jaxbot!)

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