Windows 8 live tile from NET 4.5 app

Question

I have create a Windows Store app which successfully updates its tile (live tile). The thing I hate about this now is that it seems there is no way for me to install this app anywhere except either through Windows Store or using another developer account (see this).

Since I am looking to support only desktop PC with this, can I work with live tiles from a generic NET 4.5 application?

Or to put it differently, is there a way to use / control live tiles from apps other than Windows Store apps?

This is still all too new to me... Finding answers on the web and SO revealed nothing.

Answer 1

Live Tiles are part of the Metro Framework, completely seperated from .NET. Your application is sandboxed when you develop for the Windows Store framework. no one can access your application and you can't access anyone else's application. The only way to update the live tile would be for the application to update it's own live tile. It would be a huge security flaw to allow anyone to update any tile.

Answer 2

If you do NOT intend to ever submit your app to the Windows Store for distribution - you can look at this thread, which talks about methods used to communicate between desktop apps and windows store apps.