Pinning secondary tiles (XAML)

Note  Not using C#/VB/C++? See Pinning secondary tiles (HTML).

 

This section shows you how to use secondary tiles, which enable a user to pin specific content or experiences from an app to the Start screen so that they have direct access to that content or experience. For instance, a user could create a secondary tile that represents a specific friend in a social networking app. That friend's updates could then be reflected in that secondary tile, and selecting the tile would open the social networking app to that friend's page.

The following roadmap suggests a path you should follow as you learn how to define and communicate with secondary tiles:

  1. Individual topics in this section give some basic conceptual information, but most assume that you already have some background knowledge. If you are new to this feature, you should first familiarize yourself with tile and notification terms and concepts. See Tiles, Badges, and Notifications.
  2. You should also familiarize yourself with the details and concepts of secondary tiles. You can read about those in the Secondary tiles overview.
  3. Next, you should go over the Guidelines and checklist for secondary tiles to familiarize yourself with best practices both in the use of secondary tiles and in your implementation.
  4. Your app needs to provide an option to pin a secondary tile. This normally involves an app bar, a pin or unpin button, a confirmation Flyout, and of course a secondary tile to pin. The Quickstart: Pinning a secondary tile topic walks you through the coding involved.
  5. After the user has pinned a secondary tile for your app, your app will need to communicate with that tile. To set up that communication see Quickstart: Sending notifications to a secondary tile.
  6. For a full sample that implements secondary tiles, see the Secondary tiles sample.

In this section

Topic Description

Quickstart: Pinning a secondary tile

This topic walks you through the steps to create a secondary tile for an app and pin it to the Start screen.

Quickstart: Sending notifications to a secondary tile

This Quickstart shows how to update an app's secondary tile by sending a local notification.