The Ancient Maya App, originally built for smartphone, now runs under Windows. Our first test release is in the Windows Store. A few friends are already trying it out and helping identify compatibility issues across different Windows 10 and 11 systems.
Everything works except the Read feature — that fix is on the way and should be ready by December 10.
Because this began as a mobile app, some touch-friendly elements like spinners aren’t as smooth with a mouse. They function just fine, but I’ll refine the desktop experience soon so it feels more natural on Windows.
My friend don Crisanto requested this version for his classroom. He has a PC connected to a projector, but couldn’t easily display the smartphone app. From the beginning we designed the app to run nearly any platform just for cases like this.
Supporting a new platform takes real effort — especially without a dedicated build/test environment. Joining another app store also involves surprising overhead: identity verification, privacy and cryptography compliance, and a long checklist confirming your app isn’t doing anything harmful. The automated review process stops at the first issue it finds, which means if you have several small problems, you can end up in a slow loop of fix → resubmit → repeat, wondering if you’ll ever reach the end.
Fortunately, once the app clears review and is listed, future updates are much easier — at least until new regulations appear, like EU online-privacy laws or U.S. export rules for cryptography. Despite the hurdles, these app stores provide trusted, global distribution, and most don’t charge anything for hosting a free app. Plus, all the development tools — editors, compilers, simulators, code repositories — are completely free. That’s pretty amazing.