Windows Store app Development Snack: Simulator tips & tricks
The Windows Simulator is a great tool for developing Windows Store apps—but you might be missing out on some of its great features.
Resolution
There is a small screen on the toolbar that you use to change the resolution and size of the screen. Testing on different screen sizes and resolution combinations is important, as this influences the DPI of the screen—and that will impact your application. (Microsoft has a good post on this.)
If you sometimes need to work with a bigger simulator, you can resize it by placing the mouse on any corner and dragging to make it bigger or smaller!
Screenshots
One of the best features of the tool is its built-in screenshot capabilities, which you can access by pressing the camera button on the toolbar. This captures the entire screen and places the file (by default) into _C:\Users\<username>\Pictures\Windows Simulator._ Since it doesn’t capture any of the simulator chrome, it’s perfect for uploading to the store.
If you don’t need a file but want to capture the screenshot to memory—say, to paste into a presentation—click on the simulator and press Alt+Print Screen. This produces the same screenshot as the toolbar button but places it into the clipboard instead of saving it as a file.
Finally, the resolution of the screenshot matches the simulator’s resolution.
Windows Key
By default, the Windows hardware key appears at the bottom of the simulator. When you rotate the simulator, the key moves to the relevant location—but it may disappear when placed on the left side (counterclockwise rotation from the start position) because the toolbar occupies that space.
The Windows key is still there; it has merged with the toolbar and can now be found in the last position under the question mark button: 