Windows 10: Guide to Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps

Cluster Head · May 20, 2016

Guide to Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps
[ Updated for UWP apps on Windows 10. For Windows 8.x articles, see the archive ]

In this guide, you'll learn about:
•What a device family is, and how to decide which one to target.
•New UI controls and panels that allow you to adapt your UI to different device form factors.
•How to understand and control the API surface that is available to your app.

Windows 8 introduced the Windows Runtime (WinRT), which was an evolution of the Windows app model. It was intended to be a common application architecture.

When Windows Phone 8.1 became available, the Windows Runtime was aligned between Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows. This enabled developers to create Universal Windows 8 apps that target both Windows and Windows Phone using a shared codebase.

Windows 10 introduces the Universal Windows Platform (UWP), which further evolves the Windows Runtime model and brings it into the Windows 10 unified core. As part of the core, the UWP now provides a common app platform available on every device that runs Windows 10. With this evolution, apps that target the UWP can call not only the WinRT APIs that are common to all devices, but also APIs (including Win32 and .NET APIs) that are specific to the device family the app is running on. The UWP provides a guaranteed core API layer across devices. This means you can create a single app package that can be installed onto a wide range of devices. And, with that single app package, the Windows Store provides a unified distribution channel to reach all the device types your app can run on.

Because your UWP app runs on a wide variety of devices with different form factors and input modalities, you want it to be tailored to each device and be able to unlock the unique capabilities of each device. Devices add their own unique APIs to the guaranteed API layer. You can write code to access those unique APIs conditionally so that your app lights up features specific to one type of device while presenting a different experience on other devices. Adaptive UI controls and new layout panels help you to tailor your UI across a broad range of screen resolutions.

Device families

Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 apps target an operating system (OS): either Windows, or Windows Phone. With Windows 10 you no longer target an operating system but you instead target your app to one or more device families. A device family identifies the APIs, system characteristics, and behaviors that you can expect across devices within the device family. It also determines the set of devices on which your app can be installed from the Store. Here is the device family hierarchy.

A device family is a set of APIs collected together and given a name and a version number. A device family is the foundation of an OS. PCs run the desktop OS, which is based on the desktop device family. Phones and tablets, etc., run the mobile OS, which is based on the mobile device family. And so on.

The universal device family is special. It is not, directly, the foundation of any OS. Instead, the set of APIs in the universal device family is inherited by child device families. The universal device family APIs are thus guaranteed to be present in every OS and consequently on every device.

Each child device family adds its own APIs to the ones it inherits. The resulting union of APIs in a child device family is guaranteed to be present in the OS based on that device family, and consequently on every device running that OS.

One benefit of device families is that your app can run on any, or even all, of a variety of devices from phones, tablets, and desktop computers up to Surface Hubs and Xbox consoles. Your app can also use adaptive code to dynamically detect and use features of a device that are outside of the universal device family.

The decision about which device family (or families) your app will target is yours to make. And that decision impacts your app in these important ways. It determines:
•The set of APIs that your app can assume to be present when it runs (and can therefore call freely).
•The set of API calls that are safe only inside conditional statements.
•The set of devices on which your app can be installed from the Store (and consequently the form factors that you need to consider).

There are two main consequences of making a device family choice: the API surface that can be called unconditionally by the app, and the number of devices the app can reach. These two factors involve tradeoffs and are inversely related. For example, a UWP app is an app that specifically targets the universal device family, and consequently is available to all devices. An app that targets the universal device family can assume the presence of only the APIs in the universal device family (because that's what it targets). Other APIs must be called conditionally. Also, such an app must have a highly adaptive UI and comprehensive input capabilities because it can run on a wide variety of devices. A Windows mobile app is an app that specifically targets the mobile device family, and is available to devices whose OS is based on the mobile device family (which includes phones, tablets, and similar devices). A mobile device family app can assume the presence of all APIs in the mobile device family, and its UI has to be moderately adaptive. An app that targets the IoT device family can be installed only on IoT devices and can assume the presence of all APIs in the IoT device family. That app can be very specialized in its UI and input capabilities because you know that it will run only on a specific type of device.

Here are some considerations to help you decide which device family to target:

Maximizing your app's reach

To reach the maximum range of devices with your app, and to have it run on as many kinds of devices as possible, your app will target the universal device family. By doing so, the app automatically targets every device family that's based on universal (in the diagram, all the children of universal). That means that the app runs on every OS based on those device families, and on all the devices that run those operating systems. The only APIs that are guaranteed to be available on all those devices is the set defined by the particular version of the universal device family that you target. (With this release, that version is always 10.0.x.0.) To find out how an app can call APIs outside of its target device family version, see Writing code later in this topic.

Limiting your app to one kind of device

You may not want your app to run on a wide range of devices; perhaps it's specialized for, say, a desktop PC or for an Xbox console. In that case you can choose to target your app at one of the child device families. For example, if you target the desktop device family, the APIs guaranteed to be available to your app include the APIs inherited from the universal device family plus the APIs that are particular to the desktop device family.

Limiting your app to a subset of all possible devices

Instead of targeting the universal device family, or targeting one of the child device families, you can instead target two (or more) child device families. Targeting desktop and mobile might make sense for your app. Or desktop and Xbox. Or desktop, Xbox and Surface Hub.

Excluding support for a particular version of a device family

In rare cases you may want your app to run everywhere except on devices with a particular version of a particular device family. For example, let's say your app targets version 10.0.x.0 of the universal device family. When the operating system version changes in the future, say to 10.0.x.2, at that point you can specify that your app runs everywhere except version 10.0.x.1 of Xbox by targeting your app to 10.0.x.0 of universal and 10.0.x.1 of Xbox. Your app will then be unavailable to the set of device family versions within Xbox 10.0.x.1 (inclusive) and earlier.

By default, Microsoft Visual Studio specifies Windows.Universal as the target device family in the app package manifest file. To specify the device family or device families that your app is offered to from within the Store, manually configure the TargetDeviceFamily element in your Package.appxmanifest file.

UI and universal input

A UWP app can run on many different kinds of devices that have different forms of input, screen resolutions, DPI density, and other unique characteristics. Windows 10 provides new universal controls, layout panels, and tooling to help you adapt your UI to the devices your app may run on. For example, you can tailor the UI to take advantage of the difference in screen resolution when your app is running on a desktop computer versus on a mobile device.

Some aspects of your app's UI will automatically adapt across devices. Controls such as buttons and sliders automatically adapt across device families and input modes. Your app's user-experience design, however, may need to adapt depending on the device the app is running on. For example, a photos app should adapt the UI when running on a small, hand-held device to ensure that usage is ideal for single-hand use. When the photos app is running on a desktop computer, the UI should adapt to take advantage of the additional screen space.

Windows helps you target your UI to multiple devices with the following features:
•Universal controls and layout panels help you to optimize your UI for the screen resolution of the device
•Common input handling allows you to receive input through touch, a pen, a mouse, or a keyboard, or a controller such as a Microsoft Xbox controller
•Tooling helps you to design UI that can adapt to different screen resolutions
•Adaptive scaling adjusts to resolution and DPI differences across devices

Universal controls and layout panels

Windows 10 includes new controls such as the calendar and split view. The pivot control, which was previously available only for Windows Phone, is also now available for the universal device family.

Controls have been updated to work well on larger screens, adapt themselves based on the number of screen pixels available on the device, and work well with multiple types of input such as keyboard, mouse, touch, pen, and controllers such as the Xbox controller.

You may find that you need to adapt your overall UI layout based on the screen resolution of the device your app will be running on. For example, a communication app running on the desktop may include a picture-in-picture of the caller and controls well suited to mouse Input:
Click to expand...

Source and more: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/win...platform-guide

:)

Ronnie Vernon · May 20, 2016

Windows 10:What are the diffrences and contrast between a Store App and a Desktop App?

I had been browsing this store apps and desktops apps,

What are the diff and contrast between a Store App and a Desktop App?,

How are they structured and work?,

What do they have common?
Click to expand...

Hi

Store Apps = Universal Windows Platform code.

Desktop Programs = Win32 and COM code.

This is a very, very, complex subject. Here are a few links to get you started understanding the difference.

The Microsoft developers are working on merging these 2 coding platforms.

Win32 and COM for Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps (data)

Win32 and COM for Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps (data) - Windows app development

Guide to Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps:

What's a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app? - UWP app developer

Bring your desktop app to the Universal Windows Platform - Links + Video:

Convert your desktop app to a UWP app and enhance it with features such as Live Tiles, notifications, Cortana, and more!

Desktop conversion for UWP apps - Windows app development

Windows 8* Store vs Desktop App Development:

Windows 8* Store vs Desktop App Development | Intel® Software

Regards

choirul huda · May 20, 2016

Sending Error to Google Drive

Dear All,

I am new in universal windows platform. Recently, i learning how to make app with UWP (universal windows platform). i've search for error reporting and send them to google drive or dropbox or another online storage, so i can easily monitor when the app (UWP)
something error on wherever line code. just like ACRA on android. anybody help how to solve this?

sorry with my poor english

thanks

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