Support Wide tiles in WP 7.1 app using WMAppManifest.xml

[nosila00]

Hi,

I've searched for this the last two days and didn't got anything, does anyone know a way to support static wide tiles out-of-the-box in a Windows Phone 7.1 ( 7.8 ) app, using WMAppManifest.xml ?

The only thing I've found about this is this msdn page, "Adding Windows Phone 8 and 7.8 Tile functionality to Windows Phone OS 7.1 apps", which as far as I know doesn't do what I want.


On another note, found this now: Windows Phone - Double Width Tile

But this didn't pass the certification, does anyone know if with Windows Phone 7.8 this will be accepted?


Thanks in advance !

[Loukt]

did you follow the steps described in the link below ?
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/For...4-49705b0a7d69

[nosila00]

Yes, the link i've posted has the exact same information.

That will only let you update the tile from within the app, i.e., users need to open the app first and the app updates the tile. What I am looking for is wide tile support just like it is supported in WP8, adding it to the Manifest so it works even if you don't open the app.

[Loukt]

By default the Pinned Tile is in medium size (in all the version) and you can't force it to be pinned by default in a wide/small size, the user need to change the size manually, and in WP7 you don't have the possibility to change the tile size.
plus you must know that Wide Tiles in WP7.5 are available only to Microsoft and its partners.

[nosila00]

You're missing the point of my question. I don't want to pin a wide tile, don't know where you got that but I'm sorry if i mislead you in some way, I just want base support of WP 7.8 wide live tiles just like WP 8 supports it, just by adding some information to the Manifest file and having it working without the need for the user to open up the app. If you have a device with WP 7.8 you can test the my point with Rowi by following this steps:

- Download Rowi
- Before opening the app, Pin to Start Rowi
- As you can see, the tile is with Accent background color and only supports the Normal and Small size.
- Now open Rowi
- Close Rowi and notice that the tile will update to a black background. When it does, you can resize to Wide. This was only possible because Rowi runs the sample code provided in the msdn links I've already posted.

[theothernt]

First off, the Double Width Tile trick you reference uses a Private API so that will never be allowed.

The easiest way to get wide tile support and access to the new tile template running under 7.8 or 8 is to use the Mangopollo library (http://mangopollo.codeplex.com/). The library itself is best installed via NuGet in Visual Studio.

If you want to see how things work (and copy the code!), download the source code (http://mangopollo.codeplex.com/Sourc...et/view/100687) which includes a sample app that demos all the features. If you have VS 2012 installed (and up to date), you can run the sample app in the 7.1, 7.8 and 8.0 emulators to see the feature-detection of Mangopollo in action.

[joaocardoso]

In order to add support for Wide tiles on your app you must target to Windows Phone 8 or Windows Phone 7.8. You can get the updated SDK's here : Windows Phone SDK (7.8 and 8)

See if this helps : Adding Windows Phone 8 and 7.8 Tile functionality to Windows Phone OS 7.1 apps

EDIT: I noticed that you had already saw that article. Have you installed WP7.8 SDK update?

EDIT2: More info: http://blogs.windows.com/windows_pho...e-for-7-8.aspx

[nosila00]

In order to add support for Wide tiles on your app you must target to Windows Phone 8 or Windows Phone 7.8. You can get the updated SDK's here : Windows Phone SDK (7.8 and 8)

See if this helps : Adding Windows Phone 8 and 7.8 Tile functionality to Windows Phone OS 7.1 apps

EDIT: I noticed that you had already saw that article. Have you installed WP7.8 SDK update?

EDIT2: More info: http://blogs.windows.com/windows_pho...e-for-7-8.aspx

Yes, I have the update.

"Most importantly, any Windows Phone apps that you build using the Windows Phone SDK (with this update installed) still target and run on Windows Phone 7.5. "

As you can read in the last link, you can't target WP7.8 because it's still WP7.1 apps. The 7.8 SDK update only adds the emulator image so you can test the apps.

The thing is, the xml code you need to add to the Manifest only tells that the app does indeed support wide tiles, but, as you can read in the note:

"To enable the wide Tile or set the image on the small Tile, your app's default Tile has to be updated at run time using the ShellTile.Update method and the flip Tile template."

That being said, I wanted to know if this has already been worked and if there's an official way to support static wide tiles in compile time, just like WP8.

First off, the Double Width Tile trick you reference uses a Private API so that will never be allowed.

The easiest way to get wide tile support and access to the new tile template running under 7.8 or 8 is to use the Mangopollo library (http://mangopollo.codeplex.com/). The library itself is best installed via NuGet in Visual Studio.

If you want to see how things work (and copy the code!), download the source code (http://mangopollo.codeplex.com/Sourc...et/view/100687) which includes a sample app that demos all the features. If you have VS 2012 installed (and up to date), you can run the sample app in the 7.1, 7.8 and 8.0 emulators to see the feature-detection of Mangopollo in action.

That's a really nice lib, but it doesn't solve this problem, it just simplifies the process of updating the tile in run-time.

Well, guess this is just not supported and will be only solved with the run-hammer-time msdn provided solution...

[theothernt]

That's a really nice lib, but it doesn't solve this problem, it just simplifies the process of updating the tile in run-time.

Well, guess this is just not supported and will be only solved with the run-hammer-time msdn provided solution...

I should have mentioned in my original reply that out-of-the-box wide-tile support for a 7.1 app running on 7.8 or 8.0 isn't possible.

If we look at how to achieve a wide-tile by default with a WP8 app, it uses a chunk of XML in the App Manifest...

<TemplateFlip>
          <SmallImageURI IsRelative="true" IsResource="false">Assets\Tiles\FlipCycleTileSmall.png</SmallImageURI>
          <Count>0</Count>
          <BackgroundImageURI IsRelative="true" IsResource="false">Assets\Tiles\FlipCycleTileMedium.png</BackgroundImageURI>
          <Title>
          </Title>
          <BackContent>
          </BackContent>
          <BackBackgroundImageURI IsRelative="true" IsResource="false">
          </BackBackgroundImageURI>
          <BackTitle>
          </BackTitle>
          <LargeBackgroundImageURI IsRelative="true" IsResource="false">Assets\Tiles\FlipCycleTileLarge.png</LargeBackgroundImageURI>
          <LargeBackContent />
          <LargeBackBackgroundImageURI IsRelative="true" IsResource="false">
          </LargeBackBackgroundImageURI>
          <DeviceLockImageURI IsRelative="true" IsResource="false">
          </DeviceLockImageURI>
          <HasLarge>True</HasLarge>
</TemplateFlip>

That chunk of XML is not valid in a 7.1 project. Also remember, the 7.8 SDK update introduces no new APIs which means run-time methods like ShellTile.Update are the only option to accessing new platform features.

Something to consider: how many people download an app and immediately pin it to the Start Screen? I download an app, run it at least once to see if it's any good, then pin it if it's useful.