Home > Articles > Operating Systems, Server > Microsoft Windows Desktop

Building Windows Store Apps with with HTML5 and JavaScript

This chapter teaches the basics of building Windows Store apps, showing how to take advantage of the features of Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 to build, run, and debug a Windows Store app.
This chapter is from the book

In this chapter, I introduce you to the basics of building Windows Store apps. I start off by explaining how a Windows Store app differs from a traditional Windows desktop application. You learn what makes a Windows Store app a Windows Store app.

Feeling fearless and bold, and hoping that you too feel fearless and bold, I next guide you through building your first Windows store app. You learn how to take advantage of the features of Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 to build, run, and debug a Windows Store app.

Next, we dive into a discussion of the fundamental elements of a Windows Store app. You learn how a Windows Store app is forged out of HTML5, JavaScript, the Windows Library for JavaScript, and the Windows Runtime.

Finally, we get to the money part. I explain how you can publish your Windows Store app to the Windows Store and start collecting those dollars.

What Is a Windows Store App?

I can still remember the first time that I used an iPhone. When you scroll the screen on an iPhone, the screen actually bounces! And when you add an email to the trash, the email gets sucked into the trashcan! It’s as if there is a little universe inside an iPhone and it follows our physical laws.

For some reason—that I have not explored and that I do not completely understand—this illusion that there is a second universe inside my iPhone makes me happy. It makes interacting with an iPhone fun.

Now we come to Windows. Except for the dancing card thing in Windows Solitaire, I can’t think of anything in Windows that has ever created this same sense of fun. I can’t remember the last time that Windows made me laugh or brought me joy.

With Windows Store apps, Microsoft has finally acknowledged that user experience matters—in a big way. The heart of Windows Store apps is a set of user experience principles named the Microsoft design style principles. By embracing the Microsoft design style principles, you can create Windows Store apps that seem more alive and that are a pleasure to use.

Microsoft Design Style Principles

The Microsoft design style principles is a set of user experience design principles developed by Microsoft in the context of building the Windows Phone, Xbox Live, and the (now defunct) Zune. You also can see the Microsoft design principles applied to Microsoft websites such as Microsoft SkyDrive and the Windows Azure Portal. Get ready. Here they are:

  1. Show pride in craftsmanship

    • Devote time and energy to small things that are seen often by many.
    • Engineer the experience to be complete and polished at every stage.
  2. Do more with less

    • Solve for distractions, not discoverability. Let people be immersed in what they love and they will explore the rest.
    • Create a clean and purposeful experience by leaving only the most relevant elements on screen so people can be immersed in the content.
  3. Be fast and fluid

    • Let people interact directly with content, and respond to actions quickly with matching energy.
    • Bring life to the experience, create a sense of continuity and tell a story through meaningful use of motion.
  4. Be authentically digital

    • Take full advantage of the digital medium. Remove physical boundaries to create experiences that are more efficient and effortless than reality.
    • Embrace the fact that we are pixels on a screen. Design with bold, vibrant and crisp colors and images that go beyond the limits of real-world material.
  5. Win as one

    • Leverage the ecosystem and work together with other apps, devices and the system to complete scenarios for people.
    • Fit into the UI model to reduce redundancy. Take advantage of what people already know to provide a sense of familiarity, control, and confidence.

When I first read these principles, my initial reaction was that they seemed overly abstract and squishy. Exactly the type of principles that would be created by beret-wearing user experience guys.

But then, when I saw how the principles were applied in practice—when building actual Windows Store apps—I started to develop a better appreciation for these principles.

Take the “Do more with less” design principle. One of the distinctive features of a Windows Store app is the lack of chrome. Ironically, a Windows Store app is a Windows app without the window. Windows Store apps are full-screen apps.

This lack of chrome makes it easier to concentrate on the content of the application. For example, Windows 8 includes two version of Internet Explorer: a desktop version and a full-throated Windows 8 version that follows the Microsoft design style principles.

I really prefer using the Windows 8 version of Internet Explorer over the desktop version. When using the Windows 8 version, all you see is the web page, which is the point of the application in the first place.

Or consider the “Be fast and fluid” principle. The reason that I like interacting with my iPhone so much is the illusion of motion, and this illusion is created by the judicious use of animations: On an iPhone, objects bounce and wobble.

When building a Windows Store app, you are encouraged to take advantage of animations. For example, if you use the standard ListView control—which we discuss in detail later in this book—then you get animations when you add or remove items. When you add an item to a ListView, it not only appears, it glides into place. When you remove an item, it doesn’t just disappear, items above and below it collapse into place.

Common Features of Windows Store Apps

Windows Store apps are applications that follow the Microsoft design style principles. Furthermore, Windows Store apps are designed to run on the Windows 8 or Windows RT operating system.

All Windows Store apps have a common set of features. Let me explain these features by pointing them out in the context of the Bing News app that’s included with Windows 8.

Support for Keyboard, Mouse, Touch, and Stylus

One of the most distinctive characteristics of a Windows Store app is its oversized tiles and buttons and generous use of whitespace. All of this user interface (UI) roominess makes Windows Store apps friendly to fat fingers.

Windows Store apps are designed to work equally well when used on a touch-only tablet and when used on a desktop computer with a keyboard and mouse. Windows Store apps are designed to be gropeable.

The nice thing about how Windows 8 works is that you don’t need to put a lot of thought into supporting touch as a developer. As long as you stick with the standard WinJS controls, you get both keyboard and touch support for free.

Using the App Bar and Nav Bar

Figure 1.1 contains a screenshot of the Windows 8 Bing News app with the home page of Fox News open. Notice that the only thing that you see is the content of Fox News. No toolbars, no menus, no status bars.

FIGURE 1.1

FIGURE 1.1 Windows 8 Bing News app

In a Windows Store app, you hide all of your commands in the app bar. The app bar appears only when you swipe from the bottom or top of the screen or you right-click the screen.

The app bar for the Bing News app includes commands such as Pin to Start, Refresh, and Help. You can see the app bar at the bottom of Figure 1.2.

FIGURE 1.2

FIGURE 1.2 Using the app bar and nav bar

Notice in Figure 1.2 that there is another bar at the top of the screen. This bar is called the nav bar and you use it to navigate. In the case of the Bing News app, the nav bar enables you to navigate to different news sources such as the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and the New York Times.

Using Charms

If you swipe from the right edge of the screen or mouse to either of the right corners or press the keyboard combination Win+C then the charms are revealed (see Figure 1.3).

FIGURE 1.3

FIGURE 1.3 Viewing charms

Here’s a list of the standard charms:

  • Search—Enables you to search content in the current app and other apps
  • Share—Enables you to share content in the current app with other apps
  • Start—Navigates you to the Start screen
  • Devices—Enables you to connect to a device
  • Settings—Enables you to configure both app settings and system settings

These charms provide you with standard locations to place common application functionality. For example, all Windows Store app settings should appear in the Settings charm (see Figure 1.4). This makes it much easier for users to find your settings.

FIGURE 1.4

FIGURE 1.4 The Settings charm

When you are building a Windows Store app, you don’t build your own Settings menu. Instead, you extend the Settings charm with your custom app settings. I discuss the details of doing this in Chapter 6, “Menus and Flyouts.”

Different App Sizes and Orientations

Every Windows 8.1 app supports a minimum width of either 500 pixels or 320 pixels. For example, if a Windows 8.1 app has a minimum horizontal size of 500 pixels then the app can be resized to any size between 500 pixels and the maximum screen size of the device where the app is displayed.

If you are lucky enough to have a sufficiently large screen, then you can display multiple running apps side by side (up to four apps per monitor). For example, Figure 1.5 illustrates three Windows 8.1 apps running side by side (the Calendar, Maps, and News apps).

FIGURE 1.5

FIGURE 1.5 Three Windows 8.1 apps side by side

A Windows Store app also must work when used with different device orientations. For example, when an app is viewed on a tablet computer, the user always has the option of rotating your app from a landscape to a portrait orientation.

When building Windows Store apps, you need to design the app so it works with different screen resolutions and orientations. At any moment, the horizontal resolution of your app could be dramatically changed. I discuss how to handle switching between different resolutions in Chapter 11, “App Events and States.”

People, Not Machines, Use Windows Store Apps

When you buy a Windows Store app, the app is licensed per user and not per machine. When you buy an app, you can use the app on up to five machines—including both tablets and desktops—associated with your user account. You can view and install all of your purchased apps from the Windows Store by right-clicking within the Store app and selecting Your Apps.

Better yet, data from your apps can be shared across multiple machines (roaming application data). So, if you are using an app to read an article on your tablet PC on the bus and then you open the same app on your desktop PC at work, you won’t lose your place in the article.

Currently, every Windows Store app gets 100KB of roaming application data. Windows 8.1 handles synchronizing this data between different machines for you automatically.

Closing a Windows Store App

Now close a Windows Store app by moving your cursor over the x at the top-right of the screen. Ha! Tricked you! There is no close button in a Windows Store app because there is no chrome.

When interacting with Windows Store apps, there is no obvious way to close an app. This is intentional. Instead of closing a Windows Store app, you are encouraged to simply switch to another running app (by swiping from the left edge of the screen) or launch a new app (by selecting a new app from the Start screen).

When you design a Windows Store app, you must design the app with the knowledge that a user might switch back and forth to your running app at any time. In Chapter 11 I discuss how you can gracefully resume an app after it has been suspended.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020