Implementing a secure browser within your Windows Phone App

In some scenarios a Windows Phone app may need to implement an https:// secure browser within their application. Exposing the URL, and specifically including the "https://" prefix provides assurance to the user that the transaction is secure.

The Web browser control, by itself, does not include a field that shows the web address (URL) of the browsed-to web page. As a consequence, the user cannot verify that the address is a secure site (https://) and that the URL is correct.

This article describes how to use a Web browser combined with a Textbox, in order to clearly display both the web page and the secure URL address to the user. This enables the user to fully verify the site address before entering personal account information.

The following link describes how to create an app that includes the Web browser control, combined with a Textbox to let the user enter a URL, and a Go button:

How to create your first app for Windows Phone

You can use the above sample as a starting point, and then make a few changes:

1. Preset the Textbox in order to contain the complete, secure URL (including https://).
2. Keep the Textbox editable in order to ensure that the user can experiment with the URL to confirm that the Web browser control behaves the same as a conventional web browser interface.
3. In the sample mentioned above, consider replacing the "Go" text to a Refresh icon similar to that used in Internet Explorer, or use the text "Refresh".

This Web browser approach may be applied to any of the following Windows Phone application versions including: 7.1, 7.8, 8.0.