Windows 8.1: The Missing Manual

The TileWorld Apps Missing Manual

TileWorld apps are supposed to be extremely easy to use. Many don’t have help screens at all (even if they should). You can’t get lost, because the app fills your entire screen. You can’t get confused, because the apps’ functions are very simple—more like iPad apps than Windows desktop programs. You can’t get frustrated, because every control is big, broad, and finger-sized, designed from the beginning for touchscreens.

All you need to know boils down to these three tips:

• Peek into the Charms bar as you learn the app. You may discover that the Share button offers some cool ways to send whatever you’re looking at (map, photo, Web page…) to other people (by email, Facebook, Twitter…). You may get good use from the search button, too—it’s programmed to search only the app you’re in first.

  You may also discover some useful options under Settings—like Help, in some apps.

• Don’t forget the App bar. If an app has any controls or commands at all, they’re hiding in the App bar that appears when you swipe up from the bottom (or down from the top) of the screen. Or press +Z. Or right-click a blank spot on the screen, if you have a mouse.

• Bing apps behave like Web browsers. Microsoft starts you out with apps called Sports, News, Travel, and Finance. Each is a “Bing app”—something like a Web-based magazine. Swipe horizontally to move through the pages. Tap the button ...