Microsoft enables in-app purchases in Windows Phone 8

Microsoft has announced that developers in Windows Phone 8 will be able to sell content through an in-app purchase mechanism. This should enable application makers to earn more money from their software for the mobile OS.

According to the company, the ability to add in-app purchases will become available for applications offered in the Windows Phone 8 Marketplace. Developers can use the so-called App Hub tool to set exactly what they want to offer within their applications for a fee. You can also set the price and in which countries the functionality should be available.

Competing mobile operating systems, such as iOS and Android, already have in-app purchase functionality. It is also possible to offer subscriptions, but Microsoft does not seem to have built this option for Windows Phone 8.

Microsoft recently announced Windows Phone 8. The new version of the mobile operating system is largely based on code from the desktop system, with the kernel, among other things, being the same. Reusing large chunks of code for the mobile operating system should make porting Windows apps easier. Older Windows Phone apps are also compatible with the new operating system, but apps made specifically for Windows Phone 8 are not backwards compatible.