WP7 - Text Button on the Application Bar

On Window开发者_开发问答s Phone 7, go to Settings, email & accounts, add an account, the Windows Live (or any other). Note at the bottom there is the gray panel with a rectangular [sign in] button. Click in the email address field, and the on screen keyboard pops up ABOVE the gray panel. Rotate the phone, and the gray panel does not rotate, although the page does. That gray panel is the Application Bar, is it not?

I only find docs for adding an icon-based round button (and menu items). How do we put a rectangular textual button on the Application Bar?

Adding buttons in the Application Bar is not supported for third party developers. The Application Bar itself is not a Silverlight control; it's a native one. Only OEMs, certain partners and MS have access to the native SDK, so you won't be able to template the Application Bar to have buttons. Of course, you could create your own Application Bar that mimics the real one, but I don't recommend that approach as it would be very tricky to get it exactly right and be consistent between apps.

Yes, that's the application bar. Well, it's the non Silverlight version of it. (The built in apps are not built with Silverlight.)

Unfortuanately it is not possible to use text buttons on the application bar. It's only possible to use buttons with images.

Yes it would be nice/useful in a number of situations but it's just not possible with the current SDK (even Mango). I keep hoping it'll be there in a future version...

The applications that come with the phone are not restricted to using developer APIs and the one you mention likely uses C++ and / or restricted APIs. As a third-party developer your only option is to stick with icons on the application bar.

You can always create a Panel colored like the application bar, aligned along the bottom of the screen and display buttons or whatever other UI element you want to.