Task mappings from iOS to Windows

[This article is for Windows 8.x and Windows Phone 8.x developers writing Windows Runtime apps. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation]

Use this reference to map selected iOS development areas, frameworks, controls, and classes to equivalents for Windows Store apps and Windows Phone Store apps.

Development areas

See also Developing Windows Store apps

iOS development area	Equivalent Windows Store app development area
Application badges	See Badge overview, Quickstart: Sending a badge update, and App tiles and badges sample
Application lifecycle	See Application lifecycle and Launching, resuming, and multitasking
Archiving	See Managing application data and Application data sample
Data and file access	See Working with data and files and File access sample
Drawing and animations	See Blend for Visual Studio, XAML vector-based drawing sample, and XAML animation library sample
iCloud	See Quickstart: Roaming application data, Application data sample, and OneDrive API (but see Configuring your app before using the Microsoft OneDrive API)
OpenGL ES 2.0	See Port from OpenGL ES 2.0 to Microsoft Direct3D 11.1
Settings	See Quickstart: Add app settings and App settings sample
SQLite	See Using SQLite in Windows 8 Store Apps and SQLite with Windows 8 apps
Touch	See Quickstart: Touch input and Input: Windows 8 gestures sample
Web services	See Connecting to web services, Web authentication broker sample, and HttpClient sample

 

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Frameworks

iOS framework	Windows Store app equivalent
Address Book	See Windows.ApplicationModel.Contacts namespace and Contact Picker app sample See also Creating and reading Outlook.com contacts in the Live SDK documentation set (but see Configuring your app before using the Live SDK)
Assets Library	See Capturing or rendering audio, video, and images; Media capture using capture device sample; Displaying images, graphics, and thumbnails; and Simple imaging sample See also Working with OneDrive albums, photos, videos, audio, and tags in the Live SDK documentation set (but see Configuring your app before using the Live SDK)
Audio Toolbox, AV Foundation, Core Audio, and MediaPlayer	See Capturing or rendering audio, video, and images; Media capture using capture device sample; Playing and previewing audio and video; XAML media playback sample; Transcoding; and Transcoding media example
Bluetooth and Core Telephony	See Bluetooth call control sample, CallControl class, and Windows.Networking.Proximity namespace
Core Data	See Working with data and files, File access sample, Using SQLite in Windows 8 Store Apps, SQLite with Windows 8 apps, and Managing application data
Core Foundation	See System namespace, Windows.Foundation namespace, and Windows.Globalization namespace
Core Graphics	See Displaying images, graphics, and thumbnails and Blend for Visual Studio
Core Image	See Processing image files and Simple imaging sample
Core Location	See Detecting geolocation, Geolocation sample, and Windows.Devices.Geolocation namespace
Core Media	See Playing and previewing audio and video and XAML media playback sample
Core Motion	See Windows.Devices.Sensors namespace, Compass sensor sample, Accelerometer sample, Gyrometer sensor sample, Inclinometer sensor sample, LightSensor sample, and OrientationSensor sample
Core Text	See XAML text display sample, XAML text editing sample, Windows.UI.Text namespace and System.Text namespaces
Event Kit	See Interacting with calendars in the Live SDK documentation set (but see Configuring your app before using the Live SDK)
Game Kit	See Developing games
GLKit and OpenGL ES	See Port from OpenGL ES 2.0 to Direct3D 11.1
iAd	See Microsoft Advertising SDK
ImageIO	See Capturing or rendering audio, video, and images; Media capture using capture device sample; Displaying images, graphics, and thumbnails; Processing image files; and Simple imaging sample
Map Kit	See How to display your location on a Bing Map and Bing Maps for Windows Store apps
Message UI	See Launcher.LaunchUriAsync(Uri) method [by using a "mailto://" Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)] and Windows.Devices.Sms namespace
Quartz Core	See Blend for Visual Studio and XAML animation library sample
Security	See Managing user info, Credential locker sample, Credential picker sample, Windows account authorization sample, Web authentication broker sample, CryptoWinRT sample, and Cryptography and PKI
Store Kit	See Publish Windows Store apps, Windows.ApplicationModel.Store namespace, and Trial app and in-app purchase sample
SystemConfiguration	See Connecting to networks and web services
UIKit	See Creating a UI

 

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Controls

See also API mapping index and Controls list

iOS control	Equivalent Windows Store app control
ADBannerView	See Microsoft Advertising SDK
AVAudioPlayer, MPMoviePlayer	See MediaElement class See also Quickstart: creating a media player app; Playing and previewing audio and video; and Capturing or rendering audio, video, and images
MKMapView	See How to display your location on a Bing Map and Bing Maps for Windows Store apps
UIActionView, UIAlertView	See MessageDialog class See also Quickstart: Designing a message dialog
UIActivityIndicatorView	See ProgressRing class See also Quickstart: adding progress controls
UIButton	See Button class See also Quickstart: Adding button controls
UIDatePicker	See WinJS.UI.DatePicker object (available only for Windows Store apps using JavaScript and HTML) For other programming languages, you must create your own control or use a third-party control.
UIImagePickerController	See CameraCaptureUI class See also CameraCaptureUI Sample
UIImageView	See Image class See also Quickstart: Image and ImageBrush
UILabel	See TextBlock class See also Quickstart: displaying text
UIMenuController, UITabBar, UIToolbar	See AppBar class See also Quickstart: Adding app bars
UINavigationBar	See Quickstart: Navigating between pages, Navigation design for Windows Store apps, and Navigation model
UINavigationController	See Frame class See also Quickstart: Navigating between pages,
UIPageControl	See Page class See also Quickstart: Navigating between pages
UIPickerView	See ComboBox class and ListBox class See also How to add a combo box and How to add a list box
UIPopoverController	See Popup class See also Context menu sample
UIProgressView	See ProgressBar class See also Quickstart: adding progress controls
UIScrollView	See ScrollViewer class See also XAML scrolling, panning, and zooming sample
UISearchBar	See Adding search to an app See also Quickstart: Adding search to an app
UISlider	See Slider class See also How to add a slider
UISwitch	See ToggleSwitch class See also How to add a toggle switch
UITableView	See GridView class, ListBox class, ListView class, and SemanticZoom class See also Quickstart: adding ListView and GridView controls and Quickstart: adding SemanticZoom controls
UITextField	See TextBox class See also Quickstart: adding text input and editing controls
UITextView	See TextBlock class See also Quickstart: displaying text
UIView, UIWindow	See Page class and Frame class See also Quickstart: Navigating between pages
UIWebView	See WebView class See also XAML WebView control sample

 

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Classes

iOS class	Equivalent Windows Store app class
CLLocation	See Detecting geolocation, Geolocation sample, and Windows.Devices.Geolocation namespace
NSThread	See Using the thread pool in Windows Store apps and Thread pool sample
NSXMLParser	See XLinq, XmlReader, and XmlWriter data message query sample; Windows Runtime XML data API sample; and Windows.Data.Xml.Dom namespace
UIApplication	See Application class See also Application lifecycle and Launching, resuming, and multitasking
UIDevice	See Responding to motion and orientation sensors, Compass sensor sample, Accelerometer sample, Gyrometer sensor sample, Inclinometer sensor sample, LightSensor sample, OrientationSensor sample, and Supporting proximity and tapping
UIGestureRecognizer	See Quickstart: Touch input and Input: Windows 8 gestures sample