As you may have noticed, I am currently working on an NFC app. Development goes pretty well at the moment, thanks to the absolutely awesome and easy to use NDEF library by Andreas Jakl.
If you want to open apps from your app or from an NFC tag, you will need to use the AppId of the desired app. If you have an installed app from the Windows Phone Store, this is pretty easy. You can go to the application list on your phone, long tap and hit “send”. If you now choose mail or SMS, you can obtain the AppId very easy, as it is the last part behind “appId=” on the web address.
With the built in apps, it is a bit more difficult. Luckily, the app NFC interactor for Windows Phone 8, which is aimed at developers, has a solution. The app is written also by Andreas Jakl, who provides a huge tool with this app to support you on developing your own app and it is worth every cent.
I made it through all records for built in apps and extracted the following list, which might come handy for some of you:
Today I will share my solution of how to open links from a WebBrowser or WebView on Windows Phone and Windows 8 (as I did in my app for msicc.net).
Generally links are opened within the same WebBrowser or WebView element. On Windows Phone you can solve this problem pretty easy with only one simple method:
public void WebBrowser_Navigating(object sender, NavigatingEventArgs e)
{
e.Cancel = true;
WebBrowserTask wbt = new WebBrowserTask();
wbt.Uri = e.Uri;
wbt.Show();
}
In Windows 8 this gets a bit more complex. There is no Navigating method, and this is why we have to combine different languages together. We will use the ScriptNotify event to pass the link via a small java script and launch IE with the new link.
First, you need to add the function to your HTML string. I used a RegEx method to add all the pattern that is needed to all links. As I know that a lot of us (especially junior devs like me) have their problems with RegEx, here is my method to add them:
public static string AddScriptToLink(string text)
{
const string hrefScript = " onclick="return OnLinkClick('{0}')" ";
const string pattern = @"href=""(.*?)""";
var result = text;
var matches = Regex.Matches(text, pattern);
var sortedMatches = matches.Cast<Match>().OrderByDescending(x => x.Index);
foreach (var match in sortedMatches)
{
var replacement = string.Format(hrefScript, match.Groups[1].Value);
result = result.Insert(match.Index, replacement);
}
return result;
}
After you did that, you will be able to use the following script:
<script type='text/javascript'>
function OnLinkClick(a)
{
window.external.notify(a);
return false;
}
</script>
I pass this script together with the HTML string (HTML methods need to be first!) to the WebView. I recommend to save the script as a static string, so you have do insert only the name of the string.
If you add the ScriptNotify Event to your WebView, you will be able to use LaunchUriAsync with the value of e, which is the link.
That’s a question that’s been driving me for some time now. When I first came to Windows Phone – on my HD2 back in the days – I was kind of disappointed too. Coming from Windows Mobile and Android I was used to have access to almost anything in the system. I used to have all these nifty things like a file browser, a task switcher/manager, custom lockscreens, custom alarms, custom ringtones. Well, I spent more time for tinkering with the OS than I actually used the device. Not to mention that I flashed my device at least twice a week. Why? Because every single iteration of the ROMs I used was supposed to bring a little more stability and speed. I can’t even tell if this was actually true, but I always considered it well worth a shot.
So after flashing the first DFT WP ROM onto my HD2 – which was months ahead of the first update aka NoDo – I came to realize that MS obviously took a couple of steps back in terms of features. It almost felt as if they were approaching mobile OSes the same way Apple did. Which I found kind of shocking to say the least. Pre NoDo – and even pre Mango – WP7 lacked a lot of features that I felt were a necessity for each mobile OS. There wasn’t any multitasking, no official Messenger app, no social networks. But unlike many other users I saw the potential this new OS had. Even though it was lacking in so many ways. After spending a couple of weeks with it I started to lose the feeling to actually need file browsers, RAM cleaners, task managers and even the whole lot of customization I had gotten used to. Windows Phone’s strength was the focus on delivering information without the need of digging through a thousand of apps. It was its focus on providing a unique user experience and convenience that only Apple managed to provide with iOS so far. And from my point of view they did it in a much better way.
NoDo, Mango and now Windows Phone 8 all built up on these strengths. They added more features and even more access for devs to the underlying system. Each and every single feature Microsoft added was well thought about and felt right. It didn’t have that Frankenstein like patched together feeling I’ve always had with Android and even Windows Mobile.
I’m not blind though. I know that Windows Phone still lacks a few things and certainly doesn’t do everything right. Backups anyone? Podcasts? Xbox Live video support? Unlike many others I at least don’t have any issues with synchronization. But I can see that this is still considered a construction zone rather than a top notch solution. Zune did a better job there. But these are downsides every single OS has to deal with. There isn’t something like perfection.
I’m going to cut the chatter here now and go to what was supposed to be the original topic:
so who are actually the users who complain so much about Windows Phone and what it does or does not? That’s the point I was making with my personal story. It’s mostly these people who feel limited, because of the lack of customization. Limited because of the lack of access to the system. What these people see as boundaries is in fact the exact opposite. Windows Phone set them free. Free from things they actually don’t need. The issue is, they refuse to give into it. They refuse to take the time it needs to get comfortable with it. If more people would really USE a Windows Phone for more than just a couple of hours, they would see and feel the difference. Just like I – and many others now – did.
Bottom line is, it’s up to Microsoft and the OEMs to convince people that Windows Phone does (almost) everything a smartphone needs to do these days. And it does it in the most beautiful and convenient way possible.
Innovation in technology is hit and miss for a number of reasons. To prognosticate what advances in technology will be accepted by the general public is by no means, an exact science. There’s a constant barrage of new expensive toys with exclusive features that are “sure” to turn the world upside down, only to hit the market and fade into oblivion as a “niche market” concept. There are more than a handful of these types of advancements in the devices we all use on a day-to-day basis now, regardless of preferred OS. Yet for all intent and purpose, most don’t get utilized because of a lack of end users with similar features. NFC is one of those exclusive features and having 2 devices with it, I’ll explain why I see this being a feature that is here to stay.
I won’t spend much time explaining NFC as most of you know about it. Quickly, NFC(near field communication) is a set of standards for devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity. Up to this point, most of the NFC ado has been made about NFC tags and the Qi wireless charging capabilities with our Windows Phone 8’s: Charging plates, charging stands, phone covers with Qi, the JBL PowerUp speaker that can charge your device while playing. Being such a new innovation in smartphones, there are limited accessories to aid in this new technology, even HTC used JBL’s speaker for Nokia to advertise its most recent Android device. In addition to the lack of accessories currently available for NFC enabled devices, there are a lack of end users who actually own a NFC enabled device. NFC is about sharing and if you have no one to share with, it becomes one of those “niche market” features fading into the past, full potential never being realized.
My wife and I both have Nokia Lumia 920’s which has led to a unique experience among smartphone users, being able to utilize many aspects of the NFC’s features and that is what I’ll focus on now. One of the drawbacks to WP7 was the inability to share via Bluetooth. This was remedied in Windows Phone 8 allowing for the next evolutionary stage is sharing photos, videos, songs, documents, contacts, or websites…via NFC. No more waiting while you tried to get your Bluetooth to find the other incompatible device right next to you, no more waiting for the other person to email you with that important file or pic even though they’re standing next to you, no more waiting for file to download when opening your email, no…things have changed. Tap your phone and give or get that info now in a fun and engaging manner! I am beginning to see the Tap and Share feature as perhaps the most innovative feature with the largest amount of potential to the end-user. Of course like most new technologies this is assuming it can make it onto enough devices and into enough hands, driving the hardware cost down and finding its way onto lower cost devices for the masses to use. Without “the masses”, NFC, aside from wireless charging, losses its luster. In some sense, I’m actually rooting for HTC and Samsung to have some success with their Android devices utilizing NFC, the better they do, the better results all OS’s with this feature will do. Again, NFC’s success really does rely upon the masses.
My wife and I use the Tap+Send feature frequently. We’re constantly sharing pictures and with Tap+Send, it’s always much faster and a sure bet the recipient gets the file! I’ve found that we’re both more likely to share pics when it’s as simple as Tap+Send. Send 1 or send multiple, it doesn’t matter. Honestly, I’m finding myself impatient now when I know someone is sending me a file and I have to wait for it to arrive in my inbox and still have to download it! Another added benefit to sharing your pics or videos via NFC is the data aspect. I avoid having to use up my allotted data both with my carrier and at home on WiFi, for those of you with shared family plans or have data limits because of satellite internet, you understand.
A close 2nd in utilization when it comes to Tap+Send: App Sharing, we do this at least once a day! As many of you know sharing apps via your WP8 was made easier by Microsoft when they gave us the ability to share it directly from the app side of your device. By pressing and holding an app, “Share” is now listed as on option and even better…you can do it via Tap+Send! Lightning fast access to the app’s direct link in the Windows Phone Store! Again, no waiting for it to show up in your inbox, it’s just there! I actually transferred all my apps this way when switching over from my old 920 to my new 920 to see how arduous it was. I’ve used App Reinstaller and it can take quite a long time to auto-populate your entire app history. I was blown away at how fast I was able to get my new 920 up and running with all my old apps!
We also share music via Tap+Send. I’m going to start by saying that neither of us has a music pass of any sort. When we see something we like we purchase it, so I’m not sure how sharing music on a pass will work. My experience with music and Tap+Share has been sending and receiving music from my computer or music purchased from Zune and Xbox Music, all which has transferred and played without a hitch! It’s a relatively quick process, taking about 30 seconds from share to play!
My wife and I have busy schedules between our marriage, kids, friends, activities, and work. We have many people who are friends in common and some aren’t for one reason or another, thus our people hubs are similar but not an exact match. There are many apps that help share contacts and WP does a pretty good job at giving you ways to share contacts as well, however none come close to the efficiency and speed with which you can do it when shared using Tap+Share! 2 taps and a phone “high-five” and the info is waiting to be saved.
The last way I’ll look at is actually tied into the “Gold Mine” Microsoft sees in enterprise, sharing your documents via Tap+Send. The ways I’ve talked about using Tap+Send have been for the average user, but we all know that Microsoft is targeting businesses globally with WP8. The ability to share documents as simply as touching phones can be a game changer. Running late and can’t wait for that file to get to your inbox…need it now…phone “high five” and off you go! Not a gimmick, time is money and that makes dollars and sense!
I hope in time that we’ll see more and more devices showing up on the market NFC enabled at every level of phone: high, mid, and low range. This will take time but it’s time well worth it. When I stop and think back 2 years ago, I think about my Windows Mobile HTC Touch Pro 2, it could share via Bluetooth but it was a disaster of a process to get it to pair or be paired with not to mention the inability to retrieve most of the files types being sent! Our beloved Windows Phone has come a million miles from its predecessor, not without bumps in the road. Without those bumps though, many would forget all the amazing feats accomplished and adversity Microsoft/Windows Phone has managed to overcome!
When it comes to display the post content on a blog reader app, it starts to become a bit challenging. The post content is formatted to look great on your website. But when we pull our posts into an app, there is only the naked, HTML formatted string.
As developer, you have to think about several things now:
What part of the content do I want to be displayed?
How do I get the images there?
What if there is a video in the post?
Where do I put the Links in?
How can I handle enumerations?
and so on…
There is the HTMLAgilityPack out there, but I never got a satisfying result out of it. The next method would be to write a custom parser. This is what I have done before, in the old version of the app for my WordPress blog. It did work, but I had to invest a real big amount of time in it before I got a result that I was able to live with. I was also not too experienced with RegEx (and I am still not) that I could set up a perfect parser.
When I was creating the Windows 8 version of my app, I wanted to achieve a good reading experience. On the other side I wanted the code to be as reliable as possible, because there are often changes on WordPress that can have impact on my app.
As I mentioned above, the post content is already formatted. It is formatted in HTML. I decided to render the content string instead of parsing it.
It is pretty easy to do that. Just pass the content string to your desired details page, and use a WebBrowser on Windows Phone or a WebView on Windows 8. Without any parsing, just by “navigating” to the passed string, we will get a result like this:
So we have already a readable result, and if my app has only white background, I could leave it like it is and go on. Without any additional line of code.
Using the WebBrowser/WebView brings also additional advantages:
Pinch-to-Zoom support
Orientation support
automatic image downloading without any additional control
WebView on Windows 8 embeds videos automatically
I don’t want to hide that there are a few points that we need to handle, which will be subject of additional posts:
styling of content to match our app colors
Navigation to links (including a solution for video links on Windows Phone)
Scroll direction in Windows 8 WebView
I know it might be not the best practice for displaying web content, but I am really satisfied what I achieved by using the WebBrowser and WebView element in my apps.
I hope the upcoming blog posts will be helpful for some of you to create also a good user experience by using these elements. Of course these posts will contain some code. Before starting the posts about it I just wanted to share why I used these elements.
Now that we have a full WordPress JSON class, we are able to download our recent posts from WordPress into our apps for Windows Phone and Windows 8. I am still not using MVVM to keep it simple (and because I have to dive into it more deeply).
The first thing we need to do is to download the JSON string for the recent posts. The Uri scheme is pretty simple: {yourblogadresshere}?json=get_recent_posts
I declared a public string in my MainPage for that, so it is very easy to use it in our app.
The second thing we are going to do is to download the JSON string into the app.
For Windows Phone I used a WebClient, as I want to keep it compatible with the Windows Phone 7 OS. I will update the App with an dedicated WP8 version later, for the moment it is working on both OS versions. Add this code to you Page_Loaded event:
WebClient GetPostsClient = new WebClient();
GetPostsClient.Headers[HttpRequestHeader.IfModifiedSince] = DateTime.Now.ToString();
GetPostsClient.DownloadStringCompleted += new DownloadStringCompletedEventHandler(GetPostsClient_DownloadStringCompleted);
GetPostsClient.DownloadStringAsync(new Uri(RecentPostJsonUri));
We will also have to add the Handler for GetPostsClient_DownloadStringCompleted:
Both the Windows Phone and the Windows 8 apps are downloading the string asynchronously, the UI is reliable all the time. You may have noticed the additional Header that I request. This way, we are able to integrate a refresh function into our app. If we leave this out, our app uses the cached string, and users will have to exit the app to refresh the list of our posts.
You will have to declare a public static string variable for the downloaded string in App.xaml.cs, that keeps the downloaded string accessible through the whole app.
Until now we have only downloaded our JSON String, which looks like this:
Side note: The WordPress JSON API has a dev mode. Just add “&dev=1” to your above created Uri, and you will be able to see the whole JSON string in a readable form in your browser.
Back to our topic. Off course this is not a good format for users. They want to see only the content, without all the formatting and structuring code around.
What we need to do, is to deserialize our JSON String. This is possible with Windows Phone and Windows 8 own API, but I highly recommend to use the JSON.net library. You can download and learn more about it here. To install the library, just go to Tools>Library Package Manager>Manage NuGet Packages for Solution, search for JSON.net, and install it.
After installing the package, we are able to use only one line of code to deserialize our JSON String to our data members:
var postList = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Posts>(App.jsonString_result);
Now we need the deserialized data to be displayed to the user. The desired control for Windows Phone is a ListBox, for Windows 8 you it is called ListView. We need to create an ItemTemplate in XAML and bind the data we want to show to the user (Just change ListBox to ListView for Windows 8 in XAML):
As you can see, we have set some Bindings in the code above. This Bindings rely on the DataContract Post, as every ListBox/ListView-Item represents one Post of our postList.
[DataContract]
public class Post
{
[DataMember]
public int id { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string type { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string slug { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string url { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string status { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string title { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string title_plain { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string content { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string excerpt { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string date { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string modified { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public List<Category> categories { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public List<object> tags { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public Author author { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public List<comment> comments { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public List<Attachment> attachments { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public int comment_count { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string comment_status { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string thumbnail { get; set; }
}
Choose the fields you want to display to create your own DataTemplate to show only the data you want. Last but not least we have to tell our app that the ItemSource of our ListBox is the deserialized list, which is also done easily:
PostListBox.ItemsSource = postList.posts;
If you now hit F5 on your keyboard, the app should be built and the device/emulator should show your recent posts in a list. You don’t need to add additional code to download the images, as the image source points already to an image and will be downloaded automatically.
Pro-Tip:
The thumbnails from the our DataContract Post are looking really ugly sometimes. To get a better looking result in your ListBox/ListView, I recommend to use the attached images. To do this, you will need the following code:
foreach (var item in postList.posts)
{
var postImagefromAttachement = item.attachments.FirstOrDefault();
if (postImagefromAttachement == null)
{
item.thumbnail = placeholderImage; //add your own placeholderimage here
}
else
{
item.thumbnail = postImagefromAttachement.images.medium.url;
}
}
This code checks your list of attachments in your post, takes the first image, and downloads a higher quality (medium/full). I am using medium to get best results on quality and download speed.
I hope this is helpful for some of you to get forward for to create a WordPress blog app on Windows Phone and Windows 8.
This post is all about managing your social networks with your Windows Phone.
Windows Phone itself has a good integration of Twitter, Facebbok and LinkedIn, but there is not the full functionality. That´s why we need apps.
As I am very active in several networks, I am showing you my “ninja stars” for social networking. For downloading the apps, just click on their logos.
MeTweets (1.49$/1.49 €)
I tested a lot of Twitter apps in the last two years. Every Twitter app I used longer than one day had its on charme and features. MeTweets is the best one I used so far. It uses real push notification for mentions and DMs, has a clean interface and a really cool unique feature: scheduled tweets! The developer of the app is constantly improving the app, and it is really worth ever cent!
Hashtastic (1.29 $/1.29€)
You know FollowFriday on Twitter? Whit this small app it is easier than ever to choose the tweeps you can recommend to follow. The app shows a list of all tweeps that interacted with you to make it easy to choose those tweeps that are worth following. The app has a free trial that shows ads, if you want to remove it, it will cost you 1.29 $/1.29€.
Follorep (free)
Want to know who is following you and who has unfollowed you? No problem, Follorep is here for the rescue! Track your account status, and easily follow/unfollow tweeps with a few taps on your Windows Phone screen. The app ist currently available for free.
Klout Kikimeter (free)
If you are using Klout.com to measure your social influence, the best Windows Phone app is Klout Kikimeter. The app comes with a live tile that shows your current Klout score. You can compare your score to other users and share information about you Klout score. The app is not perfect, but the Metro styled live tile and that it’s free makes it worth to install.
Cumulotweetus (0.99 $/ 0.99 €)
With Cumulotweetus you can create so called “Tweet clouds” from your timeline, mentions, or any other user´s timeline. You are able to adjust the words, mentions or hashtags before you post it to your timeline. Nice and unique little app that I won´t miss anymore. Costs you only a buck, check it out!
Facebook (free)
As on all other OS platforms, the “official” Facebook app is kind of disappointing. You can do a lot of things there, like reading your news feed, check in to places, view upcoming events or accept and send friend requests. The two reasons why I use the app are because the Facebook integration enables not all the features the app has and with Windows Phone 8, you can get a personalized Locksreen, which looks pretty nice (especially with the photos from my WinPhan friends).
Page Manager (1.99 $/1.99 €)
What the official app is missing, is managing and posting as fan page. But Srikanth, a fellow WinPhanDev from Australia, has closed this gab with his absolutely awesome app Page Manager. Check out our full review here.
4th & Mayor (free)
If you are using Foursquare, there really is only one choice for an app on Windows Phone: 4th & Mayor. The app is running fast and provides all the features that you can use on your Foursquare account. You can pin friends and places as well as a qick-check in tile to your start screen. The app supports several live tiles as well as push notfications.
Pinboarder (0.99 $/ 0.99€)
If you are using Pinterest, then you should check Pinboarder. Mark recommended this app to me, and I like it really much. I tried also some other apps, which simply did not work because Pinterest does not support Windows Phone officially. But this one does, lets you add new Pins, search for other users and browse Pinterest. Really great app.
LinkedIn (free)
Like Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn integration is limited on Windows Phone. In fact I nearly didn’t realize that it is there yet. Luckily there is the very well done official app, that lets you search for other people, see your subscriptions and check you connections.
Geekli.st (currently in beta)
Geekli.st is a social network for geeks. On geekli.st you can share your geek achievements in form of cards, share links, and post so called micros. Every one of them can be hi-fived, which means you like the item. The Windows Phone app is written by Ilija, who has done an awesome job and is constantly working towards the official release of the app. If you are on Geekli.st and want to access the beat, please read this.
If you have any suggestions for other social network apps, feel free to add a comment. I will check them for sure!
Some of you know that the dedicated Windows Phone app for msicc.net is ready for nearly a month now. Sadly Microsoft does not allow fan sites to use any kind of their logo(s). So the app got rejected a few times just because of the logo.
Luckily Dominik, the guy behind my logo, patiently created new logos until the actual one. This time all went smooth, and the app finally got approved.
Now to the most important thing: What do you get with MSicc’s Blog for Windows Phone?
fast and slick blog Reader for MSicc.net
unique Metro styled app
read the most recent posts and browse categories or search msicc.net
read and post comments
share our posts with you friends
image gallery for posts
What will come with an update:
themes (input is welcome)
save images from gallery to your phone
live tile and toast notification
Here are some screenshots for you:
You can download the app by clicking or scanning the QR code below:
(Update) MSicc’s Blog for Windows 8 v1 now available!
Today I got notified by Microsoft that MSicc’s Blog for Windows 8 is certified! It provides similar functionality like the Windows Phone app, and will also be under constant development.
