Since the ultimate Windows Phone Marketplace for ‘Windows Phone Mango’ is scarcely ready for acquiescence of your apps, developers will be happy to know which currently we have been releasing the Silverlight for Windows Phone Toolkit (August 2011) add-on. This is a good ultimate recover of additional controls and should let we emanate even softened apps with the Windows Phone 7.1 SDK.
In this toolkit we will find user interface controls identical to those found via the Windows Phone, with components identical to toggle switches, page transitions, picker controls and more. We have additionally localized the toolkit in to all of the Windows Phone ‘Mango’ languages, given there’s a total universe out there hopefully seeking to squeeze your apps from the Windows Phone Marketplace.
You can download the ultimate recover true from the CodePlex site at http://silverlight.codeplex.com/ – it requires the ultimate ‘Mango’ developer collection as well.
The recover is additionally accessible on NuGet as the SilverlightToolkitWP package.
As always, the Silverlight for Windows Phone Toolkit is open source, vouchsafing developers magnify the components and sense some-more about most appropriate practices for carry out and focus development.
New facilities in the Aug 2011 release
Here have been a little of the ultimate things we will find in this release:
LongListSelector has been made up and redesigned to take value of the ultimate well-spoken scrolling and off-thread hold submit await in ‘Mango’. This is a buttery-smooth carry out for arrangement lists, together with organisation and burst list support.
MultiselectList carry out enables mixed preference for simply operative with lists of data, identical to the Mail app’s capability.
LockablePivot adds a special mode to the Pivot carry out where only the stream object is shown (often used with mixed selection).
ExpanderView is a obsolete equipment carry out which can be used for expanding and collapsing equipment (like the threaded views in the Mail app).
HubTile lets we add beautiful, informative, charcterised tiles to your application, identical to the ultimate People groups in ‘Mango’.
ContextMenu carry out has been reworked: opening improvements and visible coherence fixes.
ListPicker right away supports mixed selection.
RecurringDaysPicker lets your users name a day of the week.
Date & Time Converters localized to twenty-two languages. The converters let developers simply arrangement date and time in the user interface in a single of the most styles found via the phone’s UI, from a reduced date identical to ‘7/19’ to relations times identical to ‘about a month ago’.
Page Transitions have softened opening for a some-more manageable feel.
PhoneTextBox is an early demeanour at an extended content box with movement idol support, watermarking, etc.
All blunder messages and interface elements have been localized to all of the upheld languages, creation for a good knowledge for users around the world.
The recover is additionally packaged full of good bug fixes and addresses most customer-reported issues. You can record bug reports and indicate facilities for the toolkit at http://silverlight.codeplex/com/.
Other good components
If you’re ultimate to the Silverlight for Windows Phone Toolkit, you’re in for a provide as an app developer: the elementary developer living room additionally contains these good components written privately for the Windows Phone:
AutoCompleteBox is a content box carry out which allows for elementary auto-completion formed on a filter.
DatePicker lets a user name a date, identical to which found in the Alarms app on the Windows Phone.
PerformanceProgressBar can be used to uncover indistinct swell inside an app (though we should additionally cruise the ultimate ProgressIndicator await in ‘Mango’, too).
TiltEffect trustworthy skill which gives buttons, list items, and alternative components which good ‘tilt’ hold experience.
TimePicker for selecting a time.
WrapPanel is a non-virtualized jacket row mostly used for displaying print thumbnails.
Helper formula for Gestures (touch submit manipulations).
Where to sense some-more about the release
To sense all about the ultimate features, see e.g. code, and sense some-more about the growth process, check out this post announcing the Aug 2011 Silverlight for Windows Phone Toolkit on my blog. Also, do design good resources to come up on the #wpdev crush tag.
We goal which we unequivocally suffer this ultimate recover and acquire feedback, suggestions and bug reports on the Silverlight Toolkit’s CodePlex site. There we will additionally find a representation app which demonstrates the facilities of the toolkit, and full source code.
Now boat a little good ‘Mango’ apps!
Jeff Wilcox, Developer
Silverlight for Windows Phone
