Windows developers can use the Surface Dial as a debugging tool

2 min. read

Published on November 12, 2016

published on November 12, 2016

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The Surface Dial came out of nowhere during Microsoft’s event last month. We were all expecting a new mouse, keyboard and device, but most were caught off guard by the introduction of a new kind of peripheral. The Dial almost seems like it came right out of a science fiction novel, letting us interact with our Surface devices in countless ways with just a few simple gestures.

In an effort to add to the peripheral’s laundry list of uses, a Windows Platform Developer has written up a program that takes advantage of the Surface Dial API to turn it into a debugging tool. The interface is actually pretty simple, and you can see it in action in the video below. Turn the Dial clockwise to Step-Over, turn the dial counter-clockwise to Step-Into.

This was written up by Nico, of the Nico’s Digital Footprint blog. Nico’s blog post shows the step-by-step process to how he managed to pull this off, and could make for a fun project for aspiring developers who want to play around with the Dial. If you decide that you want to do it, you’re going to need a Surface Dial (obviously), Visual Studio 2015, and the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (or any update more recent than that.)

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time). For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web. Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they're looking for.