Peter Torr's Blog
Posts about Windows [Phone] application development. And other stuff.
Async & exceptions in C#
This quick post is motivated by a question on StackOverflow. Basically it is a simple console...
Date: 12/10/2014
New "Missing Platform APIs" UserVoice site for Windows Store development
Hopefully you are familiar with the existing WPDev UserVoice site, where you can provide suggestions...
Date: 05/25/2014
Updated LayoutRules Code
I updated the LayoutRules sample attached to the //build/ post I made the other day. This version is...
Date: 04/06/2014
Optimum Emulator Sizes for Windows Phone 8.1
[4/4 changed typo: 1080p -> 720p]As I mentioned in my //Build talk, the emulator is not a good...
Date: 04/03/2014
//Build talk "From 4 to 40 inches" (with sample LayoutRules code)
[Update 4/6/2014: I uploaded a newer and better sample; see the end of the post for a link] Thanks...
Date: 04/03/2014
Opening a Windows Phone project after you have upgraded SQLite
If you are using the SQLite for Windows Phone package in Visual Studio, and you install one of the...
Date: 12/18/2013
Trying something new: the Windows Phone Developer Blog
This year, the Windows Phone team is trying out something new for our blogging activity: instead of...
Date: 01/04/2013
Revisiting an old post - Application.Terminate
Well, I already did that once today, but in doing so I realized I should address another old post...
Date: 12/31/2012
Images for Threat Modelling Post
Recently I've had several folks ask me for the images for my Threat Modelling Post, which have...
Date: 12/31/2012
Update on sample code
A lot of people are asking for access to the SQLite wrapper I demoed at //build. Rest assured we are...
Date: 11/27/2012
Inside Windows Phone 41
Hello from //BUILD! As you probably know by now, we've released our SDK and have a bunch of content...
Date: 10/30/2012
Back means back. Not forwards, not sideways, but back
Windows Phone Mango introduces a lot of great new features for developers: alarms & reminders,...
Date: 10/06/2011
BUILD 2011 demos
[Update 9/21] Just got back from //BUILD in Anaheim, and it was a great conference to be at. I...
Date: 09/17/2011
More Knowledge Chamber videos on Channel 9
In addition to the multitasking video I did the other week, several other Windows Phone folks have...
Date: 08/22/2011
Multitasking video on The Knowledge Chamber
If you already follow my blog, you probably know everything you need to know about Mango's...
Date: 08/04/2011
Background Agents - Part 2 of 3
In Part 1 we looked at a simple Windows Phone application that used a background agent to...
Date: 07/12/2011
Background Agents - Part 1 of 3
This post has (errr, "These posts have") been a long time coming. They are based off the Mix 11 and...
Date: 07/11/2011
Alarms and Notifications in Mango
Here's the first of several posts about the new multitasking features in Windows Phone Mango. Alarms...
Date: 05/28/2011
Mango samples coming soon, no really!
Now that the consumer features of Mango have been announced and the beta developer tools have been...
Date: 05/23/2011
"Mango" posts coming soon!
Just a quick note - the recorded sessions from Mix are available on Channel 9. I will be posting...
Date: 04/21/2011
I was joking about the penny, but how about some tombstoning sample code?
Thanks to everyone who posted on the previous post about tombstoning in Windows Phone 7. It was...
Date: 03/21/2011
A penny for your thoughts on Windows Phone 7 tombstoning
One piece of feedback we hear from Windows Phone developers is that "tombstoning is hard," but there...
Date: 03/06/2011
This is not the exit you are looking for
[Update 12/31/2012: See also this post for a new Windows Phone 8 API to terminate apps][Update 7/27:...
Date: 02/23/2011
How to correctly handle application deactivation and reactivation
Much has been written about tombstoning and how important it is that your application be able to...
Date: 12/11/2010
That memory thing I promised you
Today Jeff Wilcox, David Anson, and I did a Channel 9 live session with Dan Fernandez at the PDC on...
Date: 10/30/2010
A couple of (late) links
Firstly, fellow WP7 PM Developer Dragos Manolescu is resurrecting his blog and posting about Windows...
Date: 09/27/2010
Sample code from TechEd New Zealand talks
[Update September 9: Link to the recorded sessions] [Update September 2: Updated the ZIP file to...
Date: 08/31/2010
Redirecting an initial navigation
One more post on the subject of keeping screens out of the backstack. A common scenario we see is a...
Date: 08/28/2010
Virtualizing Data in Windows Phone 7 Silverlight Applications
One of the cool features of lists in Silverlight is that they can "virtualize" the UI objects needed...
Date: 08/16/2010
Homeward Bound...
Well, well, well. There I was sitting in my office when I get an e-mail asking if I wanted to...
Date: 08/16/2010
Updated Tilt Effect
Jeff has posted a version of the Windows Phone 7 “tilt” effect that is packaged as a...
Date: 08/11/2010
Jeff’s improved ProgressBar template
Another quick post... Jeff Wilcox has posted an improved template for the Indeterminate ProgressBar...
Date: 08/02/2010
I am not PTorr on twitter
Just a quick post... I saw someone linking me to the “ptorr” account on twitter but...
Date: 08/02/2010
Exiting a Windows Phone Application
[Update 12/31/2012: See also this post for a new Windows Phone 8 API to terminate apps] [Update...
Date: 08/01/2010
How to detect when a list is scrolling (or not)
One of the UI features of lists on Windows Phone 7 is that the "scroll bars" don't really act like...
Date: 07/23/2010
Recreating the PhoneListBoxItemLayout (and why we cut it)
One of the controls that was shipped in the Mix CTPs of Windows Phone Developer Tools was the...
Date: 07/21/2010
Uninstall issues with WPDT CTP before installing Beta
Quick link to...
Date: 07/14/2010
The Beta Shipped! Plus a quick tip for keyboard input
Wow, I go on holiday for two weeks and the team ships the WP7 Tools Beta - great news! Maybe I...
Date: 07/13/2010
Why can't I change the Background of my Button on a Click event?
I've been meaning to post this for a while, since the question comes up from time to time...
Date: 06/18/2010
Why are the ApplicationBar objects not FrameworkElements?
Also phrased as "Why can't I databind to the AppBar" or "Why are my named AppBar objects always null...
Date: 06/18/2010
Heading to TechEd next week
I'll be at TechEd next week (along with my cohort Shawn Oster and bunch of other Windows Phone...
Date: 06/04/2010
Sorry about the messed-up source code
We have a new blog system setup on MSDN and for some reason I can't get the source code and XAML in...
Date: 05/30/2010
A couple of Manipulation tips
One of the many cool features about Windows Phone 7 and Silverlight is the manipulation API, which...
Date: 05/30/2010
Recent lack of posts
Just wanted to make a quick post to say I haven’t stopped blogging about Windows Phone, and to...
Date: 05/30/2010
Visual Studio 2010 and Windows Phone Developer Tools
Congratulations to the Visual Studio team for releasing the RTM version of Visual Studio...
Date: 04/12/2010