AppsMicrosoft

The joy of synced save games on the Microsoft Surface and Windows 8

Angry Birds Space - for some reason we don't have an alt tag here

One of the great features in Windows 8 is the ability to sync not only your personalization and system settings, but app settings as well. MetroTwit, for example, is an excellent example of an app which you only need to set up once. From then on, all of your settings and preferences are synced across all of your devices. Unfortunately, developers who take advantage of this feature seem to be few and far between.

Some games, like the Myst-inspired Adera, purport to include play, pause, and resume functionality, allowing you to “start a game on any device, pause the game, and then pick up where you left off on any other compatible device.” But in my experience with the game – which is excellent, by the way – that has not been the case. So imagine my surprise when I launched Angry Birds Space on my desktop PC and discovered that I had three stars on all of the levels that I had previously completed on my Surface!

This might seem like a minor feature to some people, but it is invaluable. Apps that sync your save data make it easy to switch between devices on the fly. And, more importantly, you no longer have to worry about losing your save game if something were to happen to the device.

Strangely, Angry Birds Star Wars, which is a superior game in almost every way and was released just a handful of days after Space, does not include this functionality. Developers, this feature exists in Windows 8 and it is very easy to implement. Please use it! There’s no reason not to.

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William Devereux

William Devereux is the former Microsoft editor at Pocketables, as well as a Microsoft MVP and SkyDrive/Outlook.com Insider. As his title implies, he wrote about all things from Redmond, including Windows 8 and Windows Phone. He is currently carrying a Windows Phone 8X by HTC and a Microsoft Surface with Windows RT tablet.

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