Windows Phone 7 Gets Its Own Cydia Like Store – Bazaar [How To Guide]

Microsoft is doing decently good with their recently launched Windows Phone 7.5 platform. I had a chance to test some of its exciting features on Samsung Focus i917.

Just like Apple’s iOS App Store alternative for jailbreakers – Cydia, Windows Phone 7 users get an alternative apps distribution platform to Windows Market Place, known as Bazaar.

These alternative platforms let in apps that are rejected from the official App Store or Market Place. Just like Apple’s App Store, Microsoft’s Market Place is a well monitored and closed system unlike Google’s Android market. All apps that are submitted that are submitted for App Store or Market Place goes through a strict screening process. If an app is found to be violated guidelines set by Apple or Microsoft, it is rejected and sent back to the developer.

Over at XDA-developers, Bazaar is launched by those enthusiastic developers as a public beta that contains temporary repository of the official marketplace free apps. The important note at the post also  mentions that Bazaar is not a place to distribute cracked games and apps.

The only problem right now about Bazaar is that currently it does not work with ChevronWP7 – which is the official unlocking procedure for Windows Phones. Yes, it is an official unlocking tool from Microsoft.

In the following guidelines, you’ll learn how to download and install Bazaar on your Windows Phone 7 devices.

Follow this procedure at your own risk with your developer unlocked Windows Phone 7 device –

Pre-requisites:

1. Developer unlocked Windows Phone 7 device. Currently does not work with before mentioned ChevronWP7 unlocked devices
2. Custom ROM which supports XAP installation. XDA developers site has bunch of them. ROMs like DFT, NextGen, Deepshining do support these features. Flash your device with one of them.
3. Finally, install Windows Phone Developer Tools and Zune on your PC

Steps:

1. Download Bazaar (.xap file) from the XDA developers link from here
2. From Windows Phone Developer Tools on your PC, launch Application Deployment.
3. Select the above downloaded .xap file with target as Windows Phone Device. Do not click Deploy button now.

4. Connect your Windows Phone device now and sync with Zune

5. Now, again from Application Deployment, click Deploy.

6. You device should now have Bazaar installed

As noted on XDA forum, Bazaar is currently in early Beta stage of development, and at this time, when clicking install any app from Bazaar, the app will just download and will not install it.

Let me know if you tried out this procedure and face any problems.