WAC made it quicker and easier for you to create rich mobile applications using existing web tools you already knew and reach millions of customers.
Because WAC had direct connections with the world’s leading mobile operators you could maximise your reach, increase your usage and drive more revenue. WAC enabled you to publish a range of different mobile applications to the subscribers of the world’s leading mobile operators.
The types of applications you were able to publish are:
- Widgets written to the WAC Specifications
- Native Android applications
- HTML5 applications
You could create rich mobile applications incorporating mobile functionality from device APIs like camera, contacts and geolocation. To see the specification for the WAC widget runtime that exposes these device APIs please see the Specifications.
Quick Start Guide
The three key steps you needed to get started are shown below.
Step 1: Create Your WAC Account
If you do not already have a WAC account, you had to start by creating one ‐ telling WAC who you are.
Step 2: Submit Your App
Upload your app and all the information needed to get it to the markets where your customers can find it.
Step 3: Manage Your App
It was easy to maintain and update your App, like when you needed to add features or fix bugs.
WAC only allowed changes to the app binary/widget package once uploaded and set to the following statuses: “Incomplete” or “Rejected”. To update your app binary/widget package (Config.xml, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, etc.), you had to increase the version number followed by re-uploading the updated app. Note that leaving the App ID the same and increasing the version is used to inform the end-user(s) that there is a new version available.
You were able to update the app metadata, e.g. marketing data, images, etc. To do so, you had to log into the WAC Developer Website and go to My Apps. Select the app and Edit App. Enter the new information and/or images in the form provided. Select Save and the updated app will be submitted for approval.
Things to note
- The app owner retains all intellectual property rights to the apps they develop.
- You’re free to develop anything you like, as long as you abide by our terms and conditions.
- We strongly recommend that you test your widget on a mobile device prior to submitting it for publishing. You will need to obtain a test certificate to test the widget on a mobile device.
- A test certificate is valid for 7 days after the issue date. Therefore widgets containing test certificates must be installed within 7 days from the date of issue.
- As part of WAC 2.0 Specifications, widgets need to be signed, and WAC cannot accept unsigned widgets.
What is a digital signature?
A digital signature is a signature that is used in the digital world by operating systems, software applications and mobile networks by applying the same system of handwritten signatures in the real world.
A valid digital signature appended to a message assures the receiver of the message that the message was indeed sent by a known sender and that the contents of the message was not altered in transit.
To append a digital signature (which is called author signature) to a widget, developers had to obtain a digital certificate (known as Publisher ID) from the WAC designated CA.”
What is an author signature?
An author signature is a signature that certifies the identity of the widget’s author. This signature was used for developers to submit their widgets to the DWP. Developers would sign the widget file by using their Publisher ID in the signing function of the SDK. After signing the widget file, the file is renamed to the widget signature file named “author-signature.xml”. Author signature is needed for publishing chargeable widgets and those widgets developed by using advanced APIs.
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