Monthly Archives: July 2012

How to display GIF images in a Windows Phone application

Posted on July 27, 2012 by qmatteoq

Some time ago I was talking with a friend that needed a special requirement for his application: displaying GIF images downloaded from the web. This image format is not supported by Silverlight nor Windows Phone: if you try to download … Continue reading →

Posted in Windows Phone | Tagged | 14 Comments

How to get write access to a prepopulated SQL CE database in a Windows Phone application

Posted on July 24, 2012 by qmatteoq

SQL CE is one of the most appreciated features for developers introduced in Windows Phone 7.5: before SQL CE the only way to store data locally was serialization or remote services (for example, on the cloud). With SQL CE, instead, … Continue reading →

Posted in Windows Phone | Tagged | Leave a comment

How to create cool custom tiles in a Windows Phone application

Posted on July 18, 2012 by qmatteoq

The APIs provided by Windows Phone to create secondary tiles or to update the main tile are very simple to use, but not very flexible: you can set a title, a background, a counter, etc., but you can’t use a … Continue reading →

Posted in Windows Phone | Tagged | 4 Comments

How to open Internet Explorer by code in a Metro style application

Posted on July 13, 2012 by qmatteoq

Recently I’ve worked on a Windows 8 application to promote my blog: people can use it to read my posts within the application and to be notified (using both toast and tile notifications) every time a new post is published. … Continue reading →

Posted in Windows 8 | Tagged | 2 Comments

Include a support page in the Settings panel of a Windows 8 application

Posted on July 8, 2012 by qmatteoq

One of the requisites to pass the certification for a Windows 8 application is to provide a support page, where the user can find all the information needed to get in touch with the developer. This requirement is inherited directly … Continue reading →

Posted in Windows 8 | Tagged | 2 Comments