Supported features for Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1 apps

[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]

This topic describes the features that are available in Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1 apps.

Windows Phone 8 APIs

Most features and APIs available in Windows Phone 8 apps continue to be available for Silverlight 8.1 apps. Some of these APIs will behave differently when called from a Silverlight 8.1 app. For a list of all affected APIs, see Platform compatibility and breaking changes for Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1 apps.

Features that are supported only in Silverlight 8.1 apps

There are a few features you can use only in apps that target Silverlight 8.1. These include:

Contact bindings for the People Hub

Your app can register as a photos provider for contacts in the People Hub. For information about implementing this feature, see Implementing contact bindings in a Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1 app.

Online media extensibility for the Photos Hub

Your app can register as a photos provider that’s displayed in the Photos Hub. For information about implementing this feature, see Implementing online media extensibility in a Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1 app.

Seamless VoIP call upgrade

Silverlight 8.1 VoIP apps can seamlessly upgrade calls from cellular to VoIP when it is supported by both the caller and the callee. For information about implementing this feature, see Upgrade calls from cellular to VoIP in a Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1 app.

Windows Phone 8.1 features supported for Silverlight 8.1 apps

Most of the features that are supported for Windows Phone Store apps also can be used in Silverlight 8.1 apps. The following table lists supported features.

Feature	Documentation link
Development tools, including new tools for testing apps	Test app features in Windows Phone Emulator Test and troubleshoot apps with the Windows Phone Developer Power Tools
Accessibility (UI Automation, large text, high contrast)	Accessibility
Roaming app data	Quickstart: Roaming app data (Windows Store apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
File access, including input and output streams and Windows.Storage..::.KnownFolders	Quickstart: Reading and writing a file (Windows Store apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
Storage enhancements, data backup and restore, removable storage	PathIO FileIO Windows.Storage.Compression Windows.Storage.AccessCache
Data enhancements	Windows.Data.Xml.Dom Windows.Data.Xml.Xsl
Storage pickers and providers	Working with file pickers
Share contract	Sharing and exchanging data (Windows Store apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
Push Notifications with Windows Push Notification Service (WNS)	Push notification overview (Windows Store apps) Choosing MPNS or WNS for a Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1 app
Tiles, badges, and notifications	Tiles, badges, and notifications (Windows Store apps)
Background tasks	Supporting your app with background tasks (Windows Store apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
Background transfers	Transferring data in the background (Windows Store apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
App-to-app single sign-on	Single sign-on for apps and websites
Networking (Http, AtomPub, Syndication)	Connecting to networks and web services (Windows Store apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML) Windows.Web.Http Windows.Web.AtomPub Windows.Web.Syndication
Web authentication broker	Quickstart: Connecting to an online identity provider (Windows Store apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
Credential Locker	Storing user credentials using the Credential Locker (Windows Store apps using JavaScript and HTML)
Bluetooth LE	Supporting Bluetooth Devices
RFComm	Supporting Bluetooth Devices
Wi-Fi Direct	Windows.Devices.WiFiDirect
Enumerating devices	Enumerating devices (Windows Store apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
NFC secure payment	Windows.ApplicationModel.Wallet
InputPane	InputPane
Email and attachments	Sending an email message
Contacts and Appointments	Managing user contacts and appointments (Windows Store apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
Sensors	Choosing the right sensors to use (Windows Store apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
Geolocation and Geofencing	Detecting geolocation (Windows Store apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
Capturing photos and video using the Windows.Media.Capture APIs	Capturing or rendering audio, video, and images (Windows Store apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
Media editing	Windows.Media.Editing
Media transcoding	Transcoding (Windows Store apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
Audio effects	Windows.Media.Effects
Windows Imaging Component (WIC)	Windows Imaging Component
Direct2D	Direct2D
DirectWrite	DirectWrite
Microsoft Media Foundation	Microsoft Media Foundation