Is the Windows.ApplicationModel.LockScreen namespace available for non-kiosk use?

Question

The MSDN documentation for the Windows.ApplicationModel.LockScreen namespace claims that "You can create an app that acts as the lock screen, allowing greater user personalization". I'm interested in creating a custom lock screen for Windows 10 Mobile.

However, my quest for further documentation yielded only an article about creating a Windows 10 desktop kiosk app.

So, my question is simple--is it actually possible to create a custom Windows 10 Mobile lock screen with these classes?

Answer 1

There are a few different things here that are probably confusing things. unfortunately they are not very common scenarios so documentation is lacking.

You can use the Windows.ApplicationModel.LockScreen namespace for customising the display of the lock screen. This can be used to change the wallpaper or notification counts. It is probably the most common form of lock screen customization as it can be done by any app.

You can also use the functionality in this namespace to create an alternative lock screen. This could have different behaviour to the process of swipe up and enter password/PIN or Microsoft Hello face detection.
Creating such an app and distributing through the store requires extra permissions than 3rd party developers typically have.

"Kiosk mode" apps are created as apps that run above the lock screen. Such apps have no real connection to lock screen replacements but are related in their use of similar underlying elements of the OS.

In terms of what you are trying to achieve, it sounds like you should be able to do this by declaring the windows.lockScreen extension and then using LockApplicationHost to do the actual unlocking. As mentioned above the lack of a way for 3rd parties to distribute such apps through the store means there is a lack of documentation in this area but it should be possible.

One thing to take note of in such an app is an under even greater memory/resource constraints than a typical app and so you should keep this in mind during your planning and development.