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More on the Windows 8.1 HID WinRT API

We're going to keep with the Windows 8.1 HID theme with a guest post from Donn Morse

Have you ever wanted to build a simple fitness device (like a heart-rate monitor) or a security device (like a motion sensor) and connect it to your laptop? One approach you might have considered is building a device that supports the Human Interface Device (HID) protocol. In Windows, we support this protocol over the USB, Bluetooth, and I2C transports. (This means that you can connect your device with a USB cable or a Bluetooth dongle.)

Prior to Windows 8.1, if you built a HID device, you’d need to write a fairly substantial COM/Win32 desktop application to retrieve data from, or, to control your device. To get a sense of how you’d do this, Microsoft provided the HClient application. If you knew COM, Win32, and C++, this app provided the starting point you needed. However, if you were a .Net programmer or a web developer, the ramp was pretty steep.

For Windows 8.1, Microsoft created the HID WinRT API. This new API lets you write Windows store apps in Javascript, C#, or C++ for a HID device. And, because you’re creating store apps, they will run on your Surface or Surface Pro. (If you’re an Android developer who created accessories and apps for your Nexus 7, you can now do similar things with the HID WinRT API and your Windows tablet.)

To illustrate the simplicity and power of the HID WinRT API, we’ve created a sample end-to-end solution. This solution includes plans for building a simple motion-sensor based on the Netduino Plus. When you attach this sensor to your tablet or laptop, and run the sample app, the app “monitors” the sensor and triggers a short video-capture whenever motion is detected. The solution includes both tutorials and source code.

Here's the Build 2013 session that talks about HID...

Apps for HID Devices

Windows 8.1 makes it easy for you to create apps that control devices using the Human Interface Devices (HID) industry standard. This session goes deep into the design of the new Windows Runtime HID API and walks you through the API and its functionality. It also demonstrates a custom HID peripheral to show you how to write apps that discover and communicate with HID devices using input, output, and feature reports.

Finally a...

HID QuickStart

[This documentation is preliminary and is subject to change.]

This quickstart contains C# examples that demonstrate four common tasks acccomplished by most HID apps.

The target device for several of these examples is the SuperMUTT, a test device which you can order from JJG Technologies.

  • You must be familiar with HTML, C#, and Windows.
  • You must have Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 RC installed.
  • You must be connected to a SuperMUTT device.
Connecting to a HID device

The following example demonstrates how a Windows Store app, built with XAML and C#, uses the HidDeviceClass.GetDeviceSelector method to create a selector for a specific HID device and then uses the HidDeviceClass.FromIdAsync method to open a connection to that device.


Now go forth and HID!


Follow the discussion


    Have found the Message Analyser tool great for reverse engineering USB devices that talk over HID. Got several devices working in Win 8.1 apps via that.

  • DanielDaniel

    Is it possible to create your own Bluetooth profiles? For examples, I want to implement the HID Profile to control a other PC (think about it as a remote app) - would that be possible?

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