CODEWITHSUNDEEP
windows-phone-8implementationlive-tile
Ethan
Ethan

Reputation: 178

Windows Phone 8 Live tiles Text & image update

I created an app for windows Phone 8 and want to implement Live tiles in my app. I don't even know anything about live tiles. I tried many examples from the forums and all.

But all are in the form of buttons(Like Flip, Cycle) If i click Cycle Button it will direct to the start screen to show the Cycle Tile.

But, How could i implement in my app. i want to shows the lives tiles only when user pins into the start screen.

anyone, help me to solve this????

Thanks in Advance.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1179

Answers (1)

BloodArt
BloodArt

Reputation: 11

The first thing you need to know is that LiveTiles on Windows Phone 8 can be implemented only from C#/.NET code, not C++. The native libraries don't have access to LiveTiles, so you need to use the .NET API.

Next... if your app is written in C++ with DirectX, you need to use XAML with Direct3D interop. This means you will have at least 2 VS projects, one using XAML/C#, the other using C++. LiveTiles will be updated through callbacks and delegates, sending events from the C++ component to the C# XAML component. (If your app is using only C#/.NET, you don;t need any callbacks)

One more thing: the only type of LiveTile which always works on Windows Phone is FlipTile type. If you use iconic tiles, WP8 usually ignores colors, and shows only white&transparency.

Here is a snippet from my C++ component:

std:string dummyStd = "test string to display";
std::wstring dummyWs.assign(dummyStd.begin(), dummyStd.end());
Platform::String^ dummy = ref new Platform::String(separatorWs.c_str());

m_d3DInterop->OnLiveTilesUpdates(dummy);

and a snippet from the C# component:

public void OnLiveTilesUpdates(String s)
    {
        String szTitle = "title";
        String szText = s;
        ShellTile oTile = ShellTile.ActiveTiles.First();
        {
            FlipTileData oFliptile = new FlipTileData();
            oFliptile.Title = "";
            oFliptile.Count = 0;
            oFliptile.BackTitle = szText;

            oFliptile.BackContent = szTitle;
            oFliptile.WideBackContent = szTitle;

            oFliptile.SmallBackgroundImage = new Uri("/Assets/Tiles/FlipTileFrontSmall.png", UriKind.Relative);
            oFliptile.BackgroundImage = new Uri("/Assets/Tiles/FlipTileFrontMedium.png", UriKind.Relative);
            oFliptile.WideBackgroundImage = new Uri("/Assets/Tiles/FlipTileFrontHigh.png", UriKind.Relative);

            oFliptile.BackBackgroundImage = new Uri("/Assets/Tiles/FlipTileFrontMedium.png", UriKind.Relative);
            oFliptile.WideBackBackgroundImage = new Uri("/Assets/Tiles/FlipTileFrontHigh.png", UriKind.Relative);
            oTile.Update(oFliptile);
        }

Remember you need to bind the two snippets of code using events and delegates/callbacks (only if you use XAML with Direct3D interop). Also, if you arrive here, you should know that the best component to use for rendering is DrawingSurface, because DrawingSurfaceBackgroundGrid has some z-order issues in WP8, and SwapChainBackgroundPanel is not supported in WP8.

PS: you should also do some research regarding secondary tiles.

Upvotes: 0

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