How to inform the user on homescreen in WP8?

Question

I need to port an Android app which has a widget to WP8.

In Android the widget shows a countdown which is updated in the background automatically - even when the user has quit the app.The countdown starts at a certain pre-programmed time and just counts down - all donw without the user having to start the app in Android.

Is there some kind of similar functionality on WP8 with the tiles? The app does not interact with internet and does not receive any external messages like email that can cuase the countdown to work. It needs to all happen automatically.

Answer 1

This is not possible in WP8 (or WP7).

At best you can update your app's tile on the homescreen once every half hour (best-case!). It sounds like you want to update more frequently than that.