Windows Store apps are often called WinRT apps and were
formerly known as Metro apps. These are applications that take advantage of new
WinRT APIs and can only be distributed in the Windows 8 store. Microsoft has
enabled a number of features and streamlined some of its touch and sensor APIs
into a robust set of device APIs under WinRT. WinRT-based apps are developed
using Visual Studio* 2012 and can be written in C++, C#, or web technologies
like HTML5, JavaScript*, and CSS3, then packaged and distributed to the Windows
Store from the Visual Studio IDE. We will look at each aspect in detail below.
Advantages:
Robust and Modern UI
and Navigation
In Windows Store
apps more focus is given to the content, so you should expect to focus on your
apps’ content. You can envision these apps as websites, where you know what
data to highlight and how to navigate them. Every app will open in a single
window and the window covers the whole screen. However, inside your app you
have multiple views and layouts depending on app needs.
Active Tiles
Apps in Windows 8
are tiled instead of icons. “So what?,” They are something similar to widgets
for Windows 7. They can provide live data even if the app is not running on the
foreground. They can refresh themselves to show the latest content either by
push or pull notification mechanisms
Search and share
content across apps
In the past, sharing
data between two applications was difficult due to the heterogeneous nature of
data formats and/or processing mechanisms. However, Windows Store apps can talk
to each other quite easily using a concept called “App Contracts.” These
contracts eliminate the hassles of understanding each application’s APIs and
data formats. You don’t need to know anything about the target app other than
its declared support for the target contract. App contracts allow you to search
and share content between different apps.
Multi- Touch
Windows 8 supports
Multi-Touch user interface events. There are three primary touch events
provided by Windows Runtime Platform API to respond to user inputs: pointer,
gesture, and manipulation events.
Pointer events are focused more on
surface (screen) “contact” from input devices. These devices could be mouse,
pen/stylus, single finger, or multi-finger.
Gesture events are primarily focused on capturing single finger events such as tapping and press-and-hold.
Manipulation events trigger when actions such as pinching/stretching, panning/scrolling, zooming and rotating happens.
Sensors
Windows 8 provides a robust set of APIs
for various sensors. Some of them give access directly to physical sensors data
(using hardware drivers) and some by using virtual sensors through a concept
called Sensor Fusion. For example, the Accelerometer invokes Inclinometer by
using angular position; Accelerometer + Gyro meter gives raise to Compass.
GPS
Geolocation data in
Windows 8 is provided through Wi-Fi* triangulation and IP address data to
determine the location. This sensor is called Windows Location Provider. This
is not a true hardware sensor. However, if your device has a physical GPS
sensor, then this location provider will make use of it and provide more
accurate location information based on GPS sensor.
NFC (Near Field
Communication)
NFC has been in the
mobile world for quite some time now. With Windows 8, it is now available in
laptops and Ultrabooks as well. These Windows 8 APIs can be used for desktop or
Windows Store apps.
Programming Language
and Platform
You can develop Windows Store apps
with your choice of language. Currently, Windows Store apps can be developed
using Visual Basic, C#, C++ and JavaScript along with HTML5 and CSS3. Tons of documentation and Samples can
be found on each of these languages on every Windows Store API. You would use
Visual Studio 2012 IDE to develop, package, and deploy these apps to Windows
Store. You can get a free Express version of the IDE for your development. You
will have to register yourself as a developer on each machine before you start
developing any apps.
Distribution, Sales,
and Installation from Windows Store
You can develop apps if you have a developer
license, however, for distribution you need to follow either of these two
routes.
1.
Go through all the Microsoft Store
validation process and publish it to Windows store. Your published apps will
then be available in Windows Store. Users can download and install your apps.
The process of installing and upgrades are handled by Windows Store.
2.
Publish without going through
Microsoft Store. Generally you use this model to distribute the app within your
enterprise or within your known circles. This concept is called side loading.
Notes : Windows Store apps
are not backward compatible. You cannot deploy Store apps on Windows 7 or
Windows 2012 servers.
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