Looks like Microsoft is still tweaking those Live Tiles for Windows 10. The latest SDK preview build 10563 was released today and with it came some changes to official UWP API.
The consumer-facing explanation is that soon developers will be able to add jump lists to their apps for quick-actions. A real world example of this is already found in the popular Twitter app Tweetium with a quick-action to compose a new tweet. The idea is to save time by going to a specific task without having to go through the app.
If you are running Windows 10 build 10565 for Insiders you can see this behavior when you right-click on the Tile on a long press (and then hit the ellipsis). Doing so reveals a new pop-up jump list that any developer can code for in their app.
Similar jump lists have existed for Win32 programs e.g. right-click on Chrome in your Task Bar, but now a similar feature is coming for Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile. The addition negates the need to create a secondary tile for a dedicated function. For instance, years ago devs would create a 'New Tweet' tile that can be pinned to the Start screen. This new feature in Windows 10 mixes the old with the new for a familiar context menu/jump list combination.
Windows Central has been informed that this is not a new feature, but in today's SDK it is the first time it is being documented for developers. Specifically, in the documentation there is reference for:
namespace Windows.UI.StartScreen { public sealed class JumpList public sealed class JumpListItem public enum JumpListItemKind public enum JumpListSystemGroupKind}Analogies can, of course, be ironically drawn to Apple's recent 3D Touch feature in iOS 9 and the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Apple's solution is just adding a hidden UI element with context menus that are similar to right-click in Windows.
Now, it appears that Microsoft is doing something similar without the Apple touch-sensitive technology. Instead, a user would need to long press on a Tile and – for now – choose the ellipsis menu and then the jump list item. However, this may change as the SDK evolves as this is not a very elegant solution.
What do you think of the idea of jump lists for Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile? Do you prefer this design or dedicated Tiles for specific functions? Let us know!
Additional content by MicrosoftInsider.es; Thanks, Emi/yzz, for the tip
