FAQ

Is Yalla Apps an official App Publisher?

Yes. Yalla Apps is proudly the first official partner on Microsoft’s Global Publisher Program for Windows Phone Marketplace, and therefore we are approved and authorized by Microsoft to submit your Apps to the Windows Phone Marketplace officially.

What are the conditions to sign up for Yalla Apps application submission service?

  1. Yalla Apps is a developer community with focus on the Middle East and Africa Region.
  2. By default all countries can register on Yalla Apps and submit applications*, participate in forums, module market or other services.
  3. *IMPORTANT: If you live in one of the non eligible countries you must use the App Hub to submit your application.

You will be charged an annual subscription fee of USD$99. We will add 100 Credits to your account which you can use for application submission and device unlocks. You will require a PayPal or MoneyBookers account in order to sign up for Yalla Apps. All payouts for application sales or module market sales will be made via PayPal or MoneyBookers only.

Please note: We are now accepting paid Apps.

What types of application support are developers required to provide?

Yalla Apps will not provide support to end users and developers are required to provide technical support to the end users of their applications.

Can I submit apps in different languages?

Yes but you are required to submit the description of your app in both the native language of the app and in English.

How will my application be displayed in the Windows Phone Marketplace?

The product description of your application will include the following sentence:

Developed by [Your Developer Name].

Additionally you can also modify the icon of your application to get more exposure.

Currently it is not possible to distribute the application under the name of the developer through Yalla Apps.

How does pricing work for free vs. paid apps?

You are required to purchase credits in order to submit applications or unlock devices.

Submission Paid App Free App
New Submission 0 Credits 1 Credit
Certification failed > app re-submission 0 Credits 1 Credit
Update Submission 0 Credits 1 Credit

How much do credits cost?

The table below shows the current price list for credit purchases.

25 Credits 50 Credits 100 Credits
USD 25 USD 45 USD 80

Can students register for free?

If you are a student living in one of the focus countries in the Middle East and Africa Region and you have a valid DreamSpark email ID you can activate you account free of charge and will receive 100 free credits.

Can I list my app in multiple application categories?

No. You can list your application only in one category. The categories on Yalla Apps are identical to the Windows Phone Marketplace.

What file formats do you accept?

Only .xap files are accepted.

Can I submit my application to multiple markets?

You can submit your application to multiple markets even if it is not localized into those markets. By default, applications are published to all markets. However, you can change the default by selecting only the markets where you desire to publish your application.

What is certification?

Certification is the process of testing your application for compliance with the policies and requirements specified in Windows Phone 7 Application Certification Requirements. All applications must comply with the policies and requirements before they are eligible to be published in Windows Phone Marketplace.

What happens if my app fails the certification testing?

If your application fails certification testing, you will receive an email notification and a status change in your Yalla Apps dashboard. A Test Summary Report will be provided that lists the associated tests and/or policy rules that failed testing. Questions regarding the failures can be presented through the Contact Support option in the Yalla Apps website or posted on the technical forums. Failed certification and app re-submission are chargeable.

How do I get paid for my app sales?

Payment is done to either your PayPal or MoneyBookers account, depending on which account you used to pay for your Yalla Apps annual subscription. If you have not provided any PayPal or MoneyBookers payments or if you would like to use a different PayPal or MoneyBookers account please contact us on [email protected].

How much money do I get for my Paid App sales?

Your App Sales receivable will be calculated on a monthly basis based on the below:
App Sales receivable = Total collected from Marketplace downloads – 30% (retained by Windows Phone Marketplace) – 20% (retained by Yalla Apps) – Any transaction or remittance fees. Please check the Developer Agreement for more details.

How often is payment done?

If your total App Sales receivable for a month exceed USD$400, then Yalla Apps will remit payment to you. If it is less than USD$400, then Yalla Apps may elect to carry forward the amount owed to subsequent months until the total amount owed exceeds USD$400.

Device Unlock

Yalla Apps offers a device unlock service which allows you to unlock your Windows Phone 7 to debug and test applications. The device unlock is accomplished using remote assistance access to your development machine and charged 0 Credits for the first device and 50 Credits per additional device.

You will be required to install the Windows Phone Development Tools and Zune software on your development machine before we can do this.

You will be able to see your own computer screen during the unlock process to see exactly what is being done on your computer.

What happens if I hard reset my phone or update firmware?

You will have to unlock your device again using the Yalla Apps unlock service. Subsequent re-unlocks of a previously unlocked device cost 25 Credits.

Can I unlock my device if I’m a student?

Students who are eligible for a student account will be entitled to unlock a single device only. This unlock will be free (0 Credits) for the first time and 25 credits for subsequent re-unlocks of the same device.

Do you charge for device unlocks?

For your convenience, we offer one unlock free of charge for your first device.
Unlocking additional devices costs 50 credits.
The reason for this charge is that each unlock is done through a manual process that requires one of our representatives to assist you personally.
This process is expensive and adds up to our operation costs.

Credits

You may be required to buy credits in order to use certain parts of the Yalla Apps website. Credits you buy are nonrefundable. For pricing information please log into your account and select “buy credits”.

Module Market

The Module Market allows developers to share their source code and custom developed modules with the community. If you have developed a custom control or template for Windows Phone 7 that you would like to share with the community please login to your account and use the Source Code Submission Form.

Participation in the module market is available to all countries.

Note: At this time we only accept free modules.

Non eligible countries

The below list of countries are NOT eligible for application submission through Yalla Apps. You can however register for the module market and other parts of the community.

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hong Kong
  • India
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Luxembourg
  • Mexico
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Russia
  • Singapore
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Taiwan
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

Yalla Apps Focus Countries

Yalla Apps is a developer community with focus on the below countries in the Middle East and Africa. Located in the same timezone we provide support to get your apps onto the Windows Phone Marketplace.

  • Afghanistan
    Algeria
    Angola
    Bahrain
    Benin
    Botswana
    Burkina Faso
    Cameroon
    Cape Verde
    Central African Republic
    Chad
    Comoros
    Congo
    Côte d’Ivoire
    Cyprus
    Democratic Republic of Congo
    Djibouti
    Egypt
    Equatorial Guinea
    Ethiopia
    French Polynesia
    Gabon
    Gambia
    Ghana
    Guinea
    Guinea-Bissau
    Iraq
    Israel
    Jordan
    Kenya
    Kuwait
    Lebanon
    Lesotho
    Liberia
    Libya
    Madagascar
    Malawi
    Mali
    Mauritania
    Mauritius
    Mayotte
    Morocco
    Mozambique
    Namibia
    New Caledonia
    Niger
    Nigeria
    Oman
    Pakistan
    Palestinian Authority
    Qatar
    Reunion
    Rwanda
    Saudi Arabia
    Senegal
    Seychelles
    Sierra Leone
    Somalia
    South Africa
    Swaziland
    Tanzania
    Tunisia
    Turkey
    Togo
    Uganda
    United Arab Emirates
    Yemen
    Zambia
    Zimbabwe