Update 26 July 2011: Note that once you have done this you must move off of YallaApps to AppHub by 20 August 2011 or you will not get refunded. See this post for details on how to do that
The single reason I don’t tell people to buy Windows Phone 7 devices in South Africa – no market place. This issue for users means a 3rd rate experience on the device compared to other smart phones. For developers this was an issue, because it meant we couldn’t get our phones unlocked and we couldn’t publish… this WAS an issue for developers.
Now we developers have YallaApps, a service to allow developers where Microsoft doesn’t have a marketplace to develop and publish apps. It is a good but slow service, but today is not about Yalla, today is about you.
As a South African, you can signup for YallaApps (no phone needed) and get
- $100 (about R800) worth of credits for free
- Your phone unlocked (if/when you get one)
- A free developer account (value $100) when the marketplace arrives
All you need to do is signup – it takes 5 minutes. My suggestion, regardless if you have a phone now or not or if you plan to develop an app – DO IT NOW! Get those free benefits banked for later so that if you do decide one day it costs you nothing!