“Shawn has created a guide that is easy to read, up-to-date, and comprehensive–covering the entire application surface area for Windows Phone developers. Enjoy!” –Jeff Wilcox, Senior Software Development Engineer, Microsoft Essential Windows® Phone 8 is the definitive guide to creating powerful mobile apps with Microsoft’s dramatically improved Windows Phone 8 platform. Ten-time Microsoft MVP Shawn Wildermuth draws on his extensive experience teaching Windows Phone development, helping you to get started fast and master techniques that lead to truly outstanding solutions. Updated throughout, this edition reflects new APIs and development best practices, ranging from new WinRT APIs to voice integration. It also contains a comprehensive new chapter on developing enterprise solutions for business. After introducing the platform and its key improvements, Shawn dives directly into the essentials. Using realistic code, he illustrates today’s best techniques for delivering robust, well-performing apps. You’ll build a complete app from start to finish and then deepen your skills with increasingly sophisticated techniques. From planning through delivery, Shawn guides you through the entire lifecycle, helping you make the most of Windows Phone 8’s valuable capabilities. Whether you’re a Windows developer going mobile or a mobile developer moving to Windows Phone, here are all the skills you’ll need. Coverage includes Setting up the WP8 development environment, including the emulator Using XAML to fully control the look and feel of your app’s interface Providing robust user interactivity through controls Creating mobile experiences built around the real needs of Windows Phone users Localizing your app for native languages and global markets Utilizing vibration, motion, sound, the camera, or other hardware features Supporting voice commands such as “Call Mom” or “Open Twitter” Integrating features that use Contacts, Appointments, Alarms, the media library and hubs, and the lock screen Storing data in simple files, caches, or a full-fledged database Multitasking in the background without compromising performance Implementing location-aware apps that can track where users are Retrieving external data and assets via REST, Web services, push notifications, or Windows Live Preparing your application for the Windows Phone Store Building and distributing enterprise apps for your company’s internal customers  

Table of Contents:
  1  Introducing Windows Phone   1 A Different Kind of Phone   1 Phone Specifications   7    Input Patterns   10    Designing for Touch   11    Hardware Buttons   12    Keyboards   12    Sensors   15 Application Lifecycle   15 Driving Your Development with Services   17 Live Tiles   18 The Windows Phone Store   19    Distributing Your Application Through the Windows Phone Store   20    App Hub Submissions   20    Application Policies   22    Content Policies   25 Where Are We?   26 2  Writing Your First Phone Application   27 Preparing Your Machine   27 Creating a New Project   29    Visual Studio   29    XAML   34 Designing with Blend   39 Adding Code   48    Working with Events   51    Debugging in the Emulator   52    Debugging with a Device   53    Using Touch   58 Working with the Phone   61 Where Are We?   66 3  XAML Overview   67 What Is XAML?   67 XAML Object Properties   69    Understanding XAML Namespaces   70 Naming in XAML   71 Visual Containers   72 Visual Grammar   77    Shapes   77    Brushes   79    Colors   80    Text   81 Images   82 Transformations and Animations   84    Transformations   84    Animations   87 XAML Styling   90    Understanding Resources   91    Understanding Styles   93 Where Are We?   96 4  Controls   97 Controls in XAML   97    Simple Controls   100    Content Controls   106    List Controls   107 Phone-Specific Controls   108    Panorama Control   108    Pivot Control   112 Data Binding   115    Simple Data Binding   115    Using a DataTemplate   117    Improving Scrolling Performance   118    Binding Formatting   120    Element Binding   121    Converters   121    Data Binding Errors   123    Control Templates   125 Windows Phone Toolkit   130    AutoCompleteBox Control   131    ContextMenu Control   133    DatePicker and TimePicker Controls   135    ListPicker Control   137    LongListSelector Control   140    PerformanceProgressBar Control   144    ToggleSwitch Control   145    ExpanderView Control   146    PhoneTextBox Control   147    CustomMessageBox   149    WrapPanel Layout Container   153 Where Are We?   156 5  Designing for the Phone   157 The Third Screen   157    It Is a Phone, Right?   160 Deciding on an Application Paradigm   162    Panorama   164    Pivot   166    Simple Pages   169 Microsoft Expression Blend   169    Creating a Project   170    A Tour Around Blend   171 Blend Basics   180    Layout   180    Brushes   186    Creating Animations   191    Working with Behaviors   196 Phone-Specific Design   199    The ApplicationBar in Blend   199    Using the Panorama Control in Blend   203    Using the Pivot Control in Blend   206 Previewing Applications   209 Designing with Visual Studio   210 Implementing the Look and Feel of the Phone   212 Where Are We?   215 6  Developing for the Phone   217 Application Lifecycle   217    Navigation   220    Tombstoning   227 The Phone Experience   233    Orientation   233    Designing for Touch   236    Application Client Area   245    Application Bar   247    Understanding Idle Detection   249    The Tilt Effect   250 Localizing Your Phone Application   252 Where Are We?   258 7  Phone Hardware   261 Using Vibration   261 Using Motion   262    Emulating Motion   266 Using Sound   268    Playing Sound with MediaElement   269    Using XNA Libraries   270    Playing Sounds with XNA   270    Adjusting Playback   271    Recording Sounds   272 Working with the Camera   275    Using the PhotoCamera Class   276    Raw Hardware Access   281    Camera Lens App   284 The Clipboard API   286 Location APIs   287    Location Permission   287    Accessing Location Information   289    Turning Coordinates into Addresses   294    Emulating Location Information   295 Voice Commands   299 Speech Recognition   306 Speech Synthesis   310 Bluetooth and VOIP   316 Where Are We?   316 8  Phone Integration   317 Contacts and Appointments   317    Contacts   318    Appointments 323 Alarms and Reminders   324    Creating an Alarm   327    Creating a Reminder   328    Accessing Existing Notifications   329 Using Tasks   330    Launchers   333    Choosers   344 Media and Picture Hubs   355    Accessing Music   355    Playing Music   359    Accessing Pictures   360    Storing Pictures   363    Integrating into the Pictures Hub   364    Integrating into the Music and Videos Hub   367 Live Tiles   371    Main Live Tile   375    Secondary Tiles   377 Other Ways of Launching Your App   380    Using a Custom Protocol   380    Using a File Association   384 Where Are We?   387 9  Databases and Storage   389 Storing Data   389 Storage   390    Serialization   395 Local Databases   401    Getting Started   402    Optimizing the Context Class   408    Associations   412    Using an Existing Database   418    Schema Updates   420    Database Security   422 Where Are We?   423 10  Multitasking   425 Multitasking   425 Background Agents   426    Periodic Agent   428    Resource-Intensive Agent   436    Audio Agent   439 Location-Aware Apps   448 Background Transfer Service   452 Requirements and Limitations   453    Requesting Transfers   454    Monitoring Requests   456 Where Are We?   461  11  Services   463 The Network Stack   464    The WebClient Class   464    Accessing Network Information   467 Consuming JavaScript Object Notation   470    Using JSON Serialization   472    Parsing JSON  473 Web Services   477 Consuming OData   482    How OData Works   483    The URI   484    Using OData on the Phone   492    Generating a Service Reference for OData   492    Retrieving Data   493    Updating Data   496 Using Push Notifications   497    Push Notification Requirements   499    Preparing the Application for Push Notifications   499    Setting Up the Server for Push Notifications   501    Raw Notifications   504    Sending Toast Notifications   516    Creating Live Tiles   519    Handling Push Notification Errors   522 Where Are We?   524 12  Making Money   525 What Is the Store?   525    How It Works   527    Charging for Apps   529    Getting Paid   531 Submitting Your App   533    Preparing Your Application   533    The Submission Process   538    After the Submission   545 Modifying Your Application   548 Dealing with Failed Submissions   548 Using Ads in Your Apps   551 Where Are We?   552 13 Enterprise Phone Apps   553 Enterprise Apps?   553 Registering Your Company   554 Buying a Symantec Code-Signing Certificate   556 Installing the Certificate   558 Application Enrollment Token   563 Registering Phones   564 Preparing Apps for Distribution   566 Building a Company Hub   567 Where Are We?   571 Index   573