Product test
Bigger, bigger, HP Elite x3
by Dominik Bärlocher
Make your own tiles in Windows 10
13.10.2016
Translation: machine translated
Windows 10 on your mobile doesn't offer much. The App Store is as basic as it gets. But with an app, you can make using your phone much easier. I'll show you how.
One of the greatest strengths of Windows on the desktop are shortcuts. There is hardly a resource, online or offline, that cannot be accessed with a small icon on the desktop. On Windows 10 for your mobile, this somehow doesn't work. On Android or Apple iOS it would be easy: There is an app for that! Go to the App Store and the problem is solved within minutes.
In the Windows Store, it's a little more complicated. We will use YouTube as an example in this article, as there is no official YouTube app for Windows phones in the store. But if you have an HP Elite x3, it's almost a shame not to watch videos on the nice big screen.
But: No app. What to do?
Let's start tinkering!
The search for the link
Since the app doesn't officially exist, we need to realise what tools we can work with and what we need to do so. YouTube is an online resource, so we need something that talks to the internet, i.e. a browser. Chrome and Firefox don't exist for Windows Phone either, which leaves us with Microsoft's "Edge" browser. Just as well, because if we only have one browser - okay, there's Opera Mini, but who uses that? -then the route is clear: from desktop to Edge to YouTube. Easy.
Luckily, Edge on the Windows Phone is a respectable browser. Only the address bar at the bottom of the screen takes some getting used to, but Edge is definitely good.
Unfortunately, Microsoft's programmers have withheld the ability to create shortcuts from users.
Luckily, the developer Goheer. (with a dot at the end) has developed an app that makes the shortcut function accessible to users. It is called Custom Tiles Maker.
Unfortunately, the free version of the app is extremely limited in terms of features. Many of the advanced functions can only be unlocked after completing microtransactions.
Luckily, we have Edge. So the free version is more than enough for us.
We need images
Since we also want our interface to still look good, we need images. A quick Google or Bing search for "YouTube icon" will quickly bring us results. If you want to make your tile look nice, keep the following in mind:
- The corners of the tiles are not rounded
- Windows 10 phones do not support PNG or GIF transparency
- Our icons can only be displayed in 1x1 or 2x2 format
- You can use any image as a background for your tiles
On to the shortcut
Creating a shortcut on a tile is easy. You need to tidy up the desktop first, simply because otherwise everything will look a bit uglier afterwards.
After that, swipe left on the screen and find Custom Tiles Maker in the app list. The app is only available in English, but this should not be a problem as I will explain everything step by step.
On the home screen of the app, select Simple Tiles. This means that we create a simple tile that only needs to have a few technological features. It doesn't have to, because the actual function is taken over by Edge.
Under Select a tile layout, select 1 Square Tile (free). You must click on it separately, otherwise the app will not accept it.
Under Select Front Tile Image you can select your YouTube icon that you have previously uploaded to your phone's local storage. You can select any image, but for GIF and PNG files with a transparent background, the transparency will be replaced with black.
Swipe to the left and a preview of the icon appears. Do a Long Press on it and then select Override Global Action.
Under Select Action, select Open Website.
Under URL you now simply have to enter youtube.com and then click on Back. Then simply click the arrow icon at the bottom of the screen and the tile will be added to the desktop.
Done!
There's more
The free version of Custom Tiles Maker can do much more than simply create shortcuts to websites. Another feature is the ability to send mails to a specific addressee, with a predefined subject and predefined content. Emails such as "I'm late, stuck in a traffic jam" can be sent with just two clicks.
In short: Custom Tiles Maker is practical. The app never has the power that a Tasker for Android has, but it makes your life with your Windows Phone much easier.
Header image: Lifehack: Your own tiles on the Windows Phone
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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