Configure a Windows 8.1 app package by using the manifest designer

The app manifest file, package.appxmanifest.xml, contains properties and settings that are required when you submit your app to the Store. For example, properties in the manifest file describe the image to use as the tile of your app or the orientations that your app supports when a user rotates the device.

Visual Studio includes a manifest designer that makes it easy for you to update the manifest file without editing the raw XML of the file.

This topic is about configuring app packages for Windows 8.1 Store apps. If you need to configure an app package for Universal Windows apps for Windows 10 devices, you need to follow this process instead.

Opening the manifest file

1. In Visual Studio, close the manifest file if it’s already open in XML code view.

2. In Solution Explorer, expand the project node of the app.

3. Double-click the Package.appxmanifest file.

   If the manifest file is already open in XML code view, Visual Studio prompts you to close the file.

Configure the app package

The following table lists the configuration tasks that you can perform in each page of the manifest designer.

This topic identifies the tasks and directs you to topics that can help you understand the trade-offs of decisions related to the task and then to help you accomplish the task end-to-end. In some cases the task requires that you write code.

If you just want to view the definition of a field, you can do that by pointing to it in the designer. As you modify settings, an error icon might appear if further actions are required by you to complete the configuration. If an error icon appears, you can view the error message by pointing to it in the designer.

Page	Task	Guidance
Application	Specify the orientations that your app supports when a user rotates the device: landscape, portrait, landscape-flipped, portrait-flipped, or any combination of these options.	InitialRotationPreference
	Specify the minimum width of your app.	If you want your app to appear on smaller screens without requiring a user to scroll horizontally, you can reduce the minimum size of your app and then design it to function well at that minimum size. Quickstart: Designing apps for different window sizes (C#/C++/VB) Quickstart: Designing apps for different window sizes (JavaScript) Support Window Resizing Choosing the minimum width
	Prevent your app from being installed on an SD card.	You can ensure that apps only install to a device and not to the SD card of a phone. You might choose to do this if you’re concerned about the security of your app and it’s data or you’ve tested the app on an SD card and it does not perform well.
	Enable your app to raise toast notifications.	How to: Opt in for toast notifications (C#/VB/C++ and XAML) How to: Opt in for toast notifications (JavaScript and HTML)
	Configure an app to receive toast notifications.	Toast notification overview (Store apps) How to: Opt in for toast notifications (C#/VB/C++ and XAML) How to: Opt in for toast notifications (JavaScript and HTML)
	Understand the guidelines for showing toast notifications.	Guidelines for toast notifications
	Download and run a sample that uses toast notifications.	Toast notifications sample
	Specify how and when tiles in your app are updated.	Periodic notifications, which are sometimes called polled notifications, update tiles and badges at a fixed interval by downloading content directly from a cloud service. Periodic notification overview
Visual Assets	Choose the various types of images that will represent your app.	Choosing your app images
	Optimize images so that they look good at any resolution.	Optimizing images for different screen resolutions
	Add tile images	Some of the logos that you provide in the designer appear as tiles in the Start screen. Tile and tile notification overview. Guidelines for tiles and badges (Store apps) Tile and toast image sizes
	See where Store logos appear.	Store logo
	Add a badge logo to the lock screen.	This topic shows you how to modify the XML of the app manifest. You can enable this experience by using properties in the Visual Assets tab of the manifest designer. Quickstart: Showing tile and badge updates on the lock screen
	Add a splash screen image.	Guidelines for splash screens
Requirements	Specify the hardware requirements of your app	Users won’t be able to download and install apps unless their device meets the hardware requirements that you specify. If your app requires one of the following hardware features, make sure you select the corresponding requirement. Gyroscope Magnetometer (compass) NFC Front Camera Rear Camera
Capabilities	Provide programmatic access to user resources.	Store apps that need programmatic access to user resources, such as Pictures, or connected devices, such as a webcam, must declare the appropriate capability. The Store lists those declarations so that users can make informed decisions about whether to download and use your app. Learn about the different capabilities that you can choose in this designer. This topic also contains links to quickstart tutorials that show the code that you can write to access the resources that you declare. App capability declarations
Declarations	Connect your app to people, devices, and services.	You can extend or customize standard Windows features in your app or interoperate and even share information with other apps. App contracts and extensions
Content URIs	Enable pages that your app loads to access geolocation devices and the Clipboard.	If your app navigates to a remote page, that page runs in the web context and has limited access to your system. You can use the properties in the Content URIs tab to give a webpage access to geolocation devices and the Clipboard. How to link to external webpages (C#/VB/C++ and XAML) How to link to external web pages (JavaScript and HTML)
Packaging	Set the properties that are used to package your app.	Creating an app package.

See Also

Package manifest schema reference