How should I deal with themes?

Question

I recently submitted an app only for it to be rejected because: The application does not display properly in the "light" theme

I have the LayoutRoot of every page with a black background. Does users the theme override my color choice?

If so...how can I have my colors equal the current phone theme.

Also is it possible to change the theme of the emulator so I can see what they are talking about?

Any other tips/advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Answer 1

Don't know about the issue but you can definitely change the theme of the emulator by just going to Settings | General | Themes

Answer 2

I found something that is probably the answer you're looking for from the WP7 Development Best Practices Wiki. Avi Pilosof has written a blog post of the same problem you are facing now. That should help you: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/avip/archive/2010/10/14/programmatically-supporting-windows-phone-themes-with-differing-colors-for-text.aspx

Hope that helps!

Answer 3

You need to use the Phone resources.

If you are using Blend you can find all the colors and other resources in the "Resources" tab. Using this instead an static color your app will fit with the user look and feel.

http://dotneteers.net/blogs/vbandi/archive/2010/09/14/being-theme-aware-in-windows-phone-7-silverlight-apps.aspx 

Hope this help you.

Answer 4

If you're using Microsoft Expression Blend 4 and installed
Microsoft Windows Phone 7 development package tools.

http://create.msdn.com/en-us/home/getting_started

(Note that if you've already installed a version of Microsoft Expression Blend 4 
 then Windows Phone 7 project templates should simply be added to existing ones.)

then once your WP7 project is open in Microsoft Expression Blend 4
you can simply check under a new tab named Device.

Windows > Device

This Device tab allows you to preview the look of the different themes and accent colors right
on the design surface.  Those are exremely important when you start using these themes and colors
in our own applications.

You can check the following link for further details on how to use
new Device tab option:

http://www.jeffblankenburg.com/post/31-Days-of-Silverlight-7c-Day-5-System-Theming.aspx

Hope this helps...