Windows 10: Custom UWP app Tiles?

/u/aninfinitedesign · Feb 10, 2020

Hey all,

I recently got super interested in having a customized Start menu with consistent icons, and found an app on the Microsoft Store (EdgeTile Creators), that allows you to create custom icons for .exe's on your computer. That said, there's no way to do this with UWP apps because they don't have .exe's to launch. Has anyone found a way to create custom Start Tiles for apps following the UWP standard?

I got all excited because most of the Adobe Suite is x86, so I've been making icons for most of the apps, only to discover Fresco is UWP.

Oh and here's some examples of my icons

submitted by /u/aninfinitedesign
[link] [comments]

:)

ConradoCane · Feb 10, 2020

UWP app live tiles not working

I had this same issue where the tiles of UWP programs installed on the SD card were blank (title with no icon). The UWP apps still worked. Uninstalling and re-installing from the store didn't help.

The workaround I found was to go into the settings>system>apps & features and temporarily move the UWP app from the SD card (in my case D back to C:. Once I did that, the tiles on the start menu returned back to normal.

I was then able to go back into the settings>system>apps & features and move the UWP app back to the SD card. After moving it back to the SD card, the tiles remained fixed.

I think Microsoft has a bug that causes this to happen when a UWP app is installed directly to the SD card vs installing to C: and then moving it to the SD card. I have since changed my default installation
location for UWP apps to be on C: and I will just manually move them to the SD card once they are installed.

I am not sure if the tile will go blank again if a future update for the UWP app is installed by the windows store.

Hopefully, this issue is addressed in a future windows 10 update.
Click to expand...

I did what you suggested, but after a while the tiles went to solid colors again.

Brink · Feb 10, 2020

UWP Tile Generator Extension for Visual Studio

Windows 10 comes on a variety of form factors, which means so do your Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps. It’s important to make sure that your app looks great on whatever device the users are tapping, typing, or clicking on—even when it’s not open.

One of the core experiences on Windows are the tiles and icons that users see on the Start Menu and Taskbar. Providing the various tile sizes will ensure that user gets the crispest looking tiles and icons which, when pinned, look right at home next to the built-in applications.

As a developer, creating the required tiles with the correct sizes whilst adhering to the guidelines (link to guidelines here) can be time consuming. To save time, you can now use a Visual Studio Extension in the Gallery which takes care of all this hard work for you. With a simple right click on the image, you are able to generate all the various tile sizes and have the package.appxmanifest update, too.

Step-by-step:

Add image to project.

Right click on a SVG or PNG and select “Generate UWP Tiles.”

That’s it.

To get the best results:

There are a few things you can do to ensure you get the best possible results:

Start with a great source so the results are every bit as good.

Use SVG files, which are preferred as they scale well, but know that the tool also supports PNG files, too. If you are using a PNG, it’s wise to make sure that it is high resolution or you may get pixelated images.

Ensure that your logo sits in a square canvas with very little padding. This will make sure the tool can provide tiles that adhere to the Tile guidelines.

For a transparent background to your tile, ensure that it has a 1-pixel transparent border, as the tool determines the background of the tile based on the pixel at (0,0).

That’s all there is to it. With this tool in hand, you can make quick work of your tiles and icons and move on to bigger, more exciting things.

Written by Shen Chauhan (@shenchauhan), Senior Program Manager for TED Services & Devices

Click to expand...

Source: UWP Tile Generator Extension for Visual Studio | Building Apps for Windows

The Great Zorg · Feb 10, 2020

UWP app live tiles not working

I had this same issue where the tiles of UWP programs installed on the SD card were blank (title with no icon). The UWP apps still worked. Uninstalling and re-installing from the store didn't help.

The workaround I found was to go into the settings>system>apps & features and temporarily move the UWP app from the SD card (in my case D back to C:. Once I did that, the tiles on the start menu returned back to normal.

I was then able to go back into the settings>system>apps & features and move the UWP app back to the SD card. After moving it back to the SD card, the tiles remained fixed.

I think Microsoft has a bug that causes this to happen when a UWP app is installed directly to the SD card vs installing to C: and then moving it to the SD card. I have since changed my default installation
location for UWP apps to be on C: and I will just manually move them to the SD card once they are installed.

I am not sure if the tile will go blank again if a future update for the UWP app is installed by the windows store.

Hopefully, this issue is addressed in a future windows 10 update.

Windows 10: Custom UWP app Tiles?

Custom UWP app Tiles?

Custom UWP app Tiles?

Custom UWP app Tiles?

Custom UWP app Tiles? - Similar Threads - Custom UWP app

Create custom tile for web link? With custom image on tile?

Customizing Action center tiles

Personalizing/Customization of Windows Tiles

Creating Custom Tiles?

Create custom tiles

Custom Tiles yet?

Custom Tiles, no really, custom "tiles" see pic.

Custom start menu tile

Start menu tile customization