I’m happy to announce that Network Dashboard 2.0 has been released and is available now in the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Network Dashboard 2.0 brings the following changes:

• Network Dashboard has changed from being a free app to a paid app with a free trial. The free trial contains all the features of previous versions, so is essentially the same as the previous free version. The trial never expires and does not contain nag screens. The paid version includes new features not included in the previous free releases. My understanding is that anyone who downloaded the free version will get the full, paid version when they upgrade. If that’s the case, please accept it with my thanks for being an early adopter!
• NEW: Added the ability to select between three different live tile styles. Additional live tile styles will likely be added in future versions. Ideas are welcome. (Paid Only)
• NEW: Added optional reminders for Wi-Fi and Mobile Data. If the specified service is turned off at the time the reminder is set for Network Dashboard will remind you to turn it back on. (Paid Only)
• NEW: Added a background task to periodically keep the Live Tile status in sync.
• FIXED: A bug that would cause the Live Tile to not be updated if it was previously pinned before turning on the Live Tile option without removing and repinning.

Network Dashboard – More Information

That’s a question I’ve heard quite a few times over the last couple of days. I figured I’d write up a quick post to let everyone know what happened and what’s going on.

First, Network Dashboard has been hidden from the Marketplace for the time being.  I submitted a version 1.2 update to the Marketplace for certification a few days ago. After doing so, I realized there was a fairly major bug in the configuration of some of the new features that it brought. I opened a support ticket with Microsoft, hoping to have them “reject” the submission so I could fix the bug and resubmit. Unfortunately, they don’t have the ability to stop a submission once it’s been put in, which meant that the version 1.2 (bug and all) made it through certification (which is interesting in and of itself … why didn’t the tester catch the bug? It causes a full application crash).

Rather than have a bunch of people with Network Dashboard breaking on them, I hid the application from the Marketplace. I’ve submitted version 2.0 for certification and am just waiting on it to complete testing. This will hopefully happen in the next day or two. I’ll post here once it’s available!

I’m just putting the finishing touches on a new version of Network Dashboard that fixes a couple of bugs and adds a couple of neat new features. I’m seriously considering a change, though, from a free app to a 99 cent app with a trial. Just to be clear, the trial will NOT be a timed trial … you can use the trial free of charge forever, no nag screens or anything. All the existing features of the free Network Dashboard app will be available for use in the trial version.

Switching to a paid app with a trial allows me to offer a few extra features and get paid for the work I’ve put into the app. Additionally, it means I can keep the app ad-free, which is something I’d like to do as I don’t feel ads fit in Network Dashboard.

So, I’m looking for some feedback on this decision before I release the next version. Anyone have any thoughts?

Yesterday at the Build Blogger Bash at Microsoft’s Build conference, Brandon Watson, Microsoft Senior Director of Windows Phone Development, mentioned Network Dashboard during a live recording of the Windows Phone Dev Podcast. I showed him Network Dashboard and he immediately downloaded it on his phone. On the podcast He said, “I love it!”

You’ll find the mention at about 36 minute mark in the video:

Thanks for the shoutout Brandon!

Network Dashboard version 1.1 was submitted for Windows® Phone Marketplace certification today. The new version brings a much-requested feature: Start Screen Live Tile status support for Wi-Fi and Mobile Data tiles.

Start Screen Live Tile support allows the Live Tiles for Wi-Fi and Mobile Data to display the current state of those radios through a green or red square in the upper right corner, just like the tiles on the Network Dashboard screen. This support comes with a caveat though: in order for this feature to work reliably, the user must only use Network Dashboard to access the settings screen for Wi-Fi and Mobile Data. If the user uses the main Settings menu of Windows Phone to change Wi-Fi or Mobile Data radio state, the Live Tiles will be out of sync until Network Dashboard is run again.

There is a new Settings screen in Network Dashboard with a toggle for enabling and disabling the Start Screen Live Tile feature. An additional change is that the long-press context menu for pinning tiles now is aware of whether the user has already pinned the tile and will offer an option of unpinning if a tile already exists.

Providing there are no issues found during the certification process, I hope that version 1.1 will be in the Marketplace in a couple of days.