I want to create an application bar like IE has in Windows Phone 7.1 ... it has a textbox in it instead of buttons, and it still works as the application bar with menu items under it.
Is this possible. I don't see anything under the Shell namespace, and just adding a Grid to the Application bar is not working.
No, the application bar is not derived from UIElement. So you cannot add other UIElements to it.
The closest you can get is to add a Grid along the bottom of your phone screen, color it like the application bar and add a TextBlock to it. I wouldn't recommend this approach though, because it makes your app non-standard compared to all other apps available for the platform.
If you are to go this route, you can use the PhoneChromeBrush theme resource to set the color to match the application bar.
