Windows Template Studio

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If your interested in building an app for Windows 10 UWP then there is now a easier way to get started and be provided guidance to create new projects that target the Universal Windows Platform. Windows Template Studio uses a dev-friendly wizard to get your UWP apps.

The Windows Template Studio provides a wizard which walks new UWP developers through four steps to quickly scaffold a new UWP app:

  1. Project Type: Select between standard layouts and predefined controls.
  2. Framework selection: Select the structure of your UWP app with in-house and third-party support.
  3. App pages: Select which pages that make sense for the app, that you are trying to create.
  4. App features: Easily add features such as background tasks with one click.

OpenSource

Windows Template Studio is a OpenSource project, we want to encourage UWP developers to take the generation engine further, adding additional capabilities and app pages, improving the implemented best practices and patterns. Windows Template Studio is the evolution of Windows App Studio. App Studio was a free, online app creation tool that allowed developers and enthusiasts to quickly build Windows Universal Apps. We are taking our learnings from the code generation engine and the existing wizard to provide a strong foundation for our code generation and developer experience in Windows Template Studio and available now on GitHub. This project is community led and we’re very excited to already have contributions from the following Microsoft UK Valued Professionals & community members: Matt Lacey and James Croft. We would love for you to contribute to the project and would encourage you to read our contribution guidelines for next steps.

The roadmap for the next release is always available. If you have a bug that you would like to report or share a feature request, then please add it to our issue tracker.

Getting Started with Windows Template Studio

Install the Windows Template Studio Visual Studio Template

Windows Template Studio installs into your existing Windows 10 app development environment. If you're missing any of the below, you can get everything from the Windows Dev Center Download page.

  • Visual Studio 2017 Update 1 or higher (any edition)
  • Windows 10 Creators Update SDK (version 10.0.15063.0 or later)

Nightly: https://www.myget.org/F/windows-template-studio-nightly/vsix/

Pre-release (stable): https://www.myget.org/F/windows-template-studio-prerelease/vsix/

Public Release instructions

  1. Install the Visual Studio Extension for Windows Template Studio by downloading the VSIX from the Visual Studio Gallery.
  2. Once installed, open Visual Studio 2017 and select File→ New Project→ C# → Windows Universal and you should see Windows Template Studio as an option.

In the Visual Studio 2017 ‘New Project’ dialog, select the Visual C# → Windows Universal node. Windows Template Studio by creating a new UWP app project.

Here you’ll see the Windows Template Studio project. Select the project type, enter in your new UWP app’s name and click ‘OK’. Windows Template Studio will now fire up and walk you through the UWP app creation wizard, step by step.

Step 1: Project Type

You begin by selecting a project type. We’ve started you with the most common types such as: blank, navigation pane and pivot and tabs.

Step 2: Framework

Once you have selected a project type, you need to select a framework. You can select from Code behind, MVVM Basic or the very popular MVVM Light.

Step 3: Pages and app lifecycle features

Once you have selected a project and framework, then it is time to add in pages and features. We’ve already added the most common pages such as Master/Detail, Settings and Web view. You can also easily add in Application Lifecycle features such as Suspend and Resume as well as Background Work and User Interaction.

Best practices and patterns

Navigation Pane
MVVM Light framework
Master Detail page
Suspend and resume
Azure hub notifications

You save time, your app is adhering to our design guidance and industry standard patterns and practices come free.

Below is an example of an app generated with Windows Template Studio.