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How to specify device capabilities in a package manifest

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Note

For Windows 10, see What's different in Windows 10.

 

To declare each device capability required by your Windows Runtime app, add a DeviceCapability element and applicable child elements to the package manifest.

Important

Some device capabilities must be specified manually. For example, you must use the XML (Text) Editor to specify device capabilities for the USB, Human Interface Device (HID), Point of Service (POS), Bluetooth GATT, and Bluetooth RFCOMM APIs.

 

Step 1:

Open the Package.appxmanifest file. In Microsoft Visual Studio, open the file with the XML (Text) Editor. To do that, in Solution Explorer, right-click the file and click Open with. Then select XML (Text) Editor and click OK.

Step 2:

Add one DeviceCapability element per device capability. You can have multiple DeviceCapability and Capability elements in the Capabilities element, but all DeviceCapability elements must come after the Capability elements. Note that some device capabilities require multiple child elements. For more info, see DeviceCapability.

Note

Not all APIs are available for both UWP apps and Windows 8.x Phone apps. See the API reference documentation for more details about which devices are supported by each API.

 

Webcam example

Here's an example of the webcam device capability. This device capability does not require child elements. For an example of how to use a webcam, see How to record audio or video.

<Capabilities>
  <Capability Name="internetClient"/>
  <Capability Name="musicLibrary"/>
  <Capability Name="videosLibrary"/>
  <DeviceCapability Name="microphone"/>
  <DeviceCapability Name="webcam"/>
</Capabilities>

USB example

The usb device capability enables access to APIs in the Windows.Devices.Usb namespace. For more info, see Updating the app manifest package for a USB device.

<DeviceCapability Name="usb">
    <Device Id="vidpid:xxxx xxxx">
      <Function Type="classId:xx xx xx"/>
      <Function Type="name:xxxxx"/>
      <Function Type="winUsbId:xxxxx"/>
    </Device>
</DeviceCapability>

Human Interface Device (HID) example

The humaninterfacedevice device capability enables access to APIs in the Windows.Devices.HumanInterfaceDevice namespace. In this example, the capability enables access to any device of a specific function. For more info, see How to specify device capabilities for HID.

<DeviceCapability Name="humaninterfacedevice">
    <Device Id="any">
      <Function Type="usage:xxxx xxxx"/>
    </Device>
</DeviceCapability>

Point of Service (POS) example

The pointOfService device capability enables access to APIs in the Windows.Devices.PointOfService namespace. This device capability does not require child elements.

<Capabilities>
  <DeviceCapability Name="pointOfService"/>
</Capabilities>

Bluetooth GATT example

The bluetooth.genericAttributeProfile device capability enables access to APIs in the Windows.Devices.Bluetooth.GenericAttributeProfile namespace. In this example, the capability enables access to any device of a specific function. For more info, see How to specify device capabilities for Bluetooth.

  <Capabilities>
    <m2:DeviceCapability Name="bluetooth.genericAttributeProfile">
      <m2:Device Id="any">
        <m2:Function Type="name:xxxxxx"/>
      </m2:Device>
    </m2:DeviceCapability>
  </Capabilities>

Bluetooth RFCOMM example

The bluetooth.rfcomm device capability enables access to APIs in the Windows.Devices.Bluetooth.Rfcomm namespace. In this example, the capability enables access to any device of a specific function. For more info, see How to specify device capabilities for Bluetooth.

  <Capabilities>
    <m2:DeviceCapability Name="bluetooth.rfcomm">
      <m2:Device Id="any">
        <m2:Function Type="serviceId:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"/>
      </m2:Device>
    </m2:DeviceCapability>
  </Capabilities>

Devices, sensors, and power

DeviceCapability element reference

App capability declarations