Windows 8 apps are not just about big colorful "Modern" tiles. There"s also the app bar, the menu UI that"s normally hidden when interacting with a Windows 8 app but can be brought up to offer some additional features.
In a new post on the Windows 8 app developer blog, Microsoft goes over how app creators can develop the app bar for their software. The post talks about how developers can create their Windows 8 app bar in both HTML and in XAML, with some example code provided.
Microsoft says that app developers need to make their Windows 8 app bar able to access commands for their app easily. It states:
If they need to dig around every corner of your app or try every piece of UI searching for the next hidden command, then they won’t have much of a chance to actually enjoy your app. That’s why a successful app bar, always displays all commands that are available at a given time. The relevant commands might vary based on a few things: the current page, the current selection, or anything else that changes the state of your app.
Placing app commands on the right and left side of the app bar screen is the layout for both mouse and touch interfaces, according to Microsoft. While the app bar will most likely be used for commands by most developers, Microsoft says that creators are free to try other non-app bar designs for their menu commands. It states:
That’s great – get creative! If you do go this route, make sure to remember that users will be expecting that hidden UI to show when they use the standard gestures (swipe from the top or bottom, right-click, or press the Windows key + Z), and that you can usually dismiss it by tapping off of the UI. For info on the standard on-demand UI events, see EdgeGesture class.
Source: Windows 8 developer blog | Image via Microsoft