I am looking to create an IRC app for wp8. There are already a few good clients out there, but they all share a common issue: Keeping an open connection while users are using other apps. From my research, I know there are two types of background agents available from the wp8 SDK (periodic and resource-intensive). I am sure that this is possible to do, given the fact that there are internet radio apps that maintain an open internet connection in the background. My thoughts so far include scheduling periodic updates to the app every few seconds or so, but this doesn't seem like a viable way of doing things. Can anyone provide insight as to how internet radio apps work on the wp8 os, or an alternative way to going about solving this issue? Edit: This project is in c#.
My thoughts so far include scheduling periodic updates to the app every few seconds or so
Not possible. IF your app is not the foreground app, you can only use Periodic Tasks which run only every 30 mins. Thats the reason no app like you describe exists. It's a limitation in the OS and it is by design, in order to keep battery consumption low.