CharacterReceived – Get keypresses after they’ve been turned into the resulting characters

using Windows.UI.Core;

Add to the Page_Loading

	//----- REGISTER FOR THE CHARACTER RECEIVED EVENT SO WE GET ALL KEYPRESSES -----
	Window.Current.CoreWindow.CharacterReceived += CoreWindow_CharacterReceived;

Add to the Page_Unloaded

	Window.Current.CoreWindow.CharacterReceived -= CoreWindow_CharacterReceived;

Method that will be called

	//*********************************************************
	//*********************************************************
	//********** KEYPRESS CHARACTER RECEIVED ON PAGE **********
	//*********************************************************
	//*********************************************************
	private void CoreWindow_CharacterReceived(CoreWindow sender, CharacterReceivedEventArgs args)
	{
		try
		{
			//Flag that keypress has been handled (to stop it repeating forever)
			args.Handled = true;

			//args.KeyCode = the the raw key code as typed after modifiers are applied.
			//	So if you hold CTRL+A you'll get a value of 1 (which is CTRL+A in ascii)
			//	SHIFT+Z will give you 90 'Z'
			//Note you'll get repeate calls for repeating characters

			//Get the character entered
			string CharacterEntered = Convert.ToString(Convert.ToChar(args.KeyCode));
			if ((args.KeyCode < ' ') || (args.KeyCode > '~'))		//Exit if its a non displayed character
				return;

			if (args.KeyCode == 27)	//27=[ESC]
			{
				//ESCAPE PRESSED
				
			}

			//If you need to see if a particular key is also pressed
			var SpecialKey = Window.Current.CoreWindow.GetKeyState(Windows.System.VirtualKey.LeftWindows);
			if (SpecialKey.HasFlag(Windows.UI.Core.CoreVirtualKeyStates.Down))
			{
				if (args.KeyCode == 'a')
				{
					//[WINDOWS]+'a' PRESSED
					
				}
			}

		}
		catch (Exception ex)
		{
			System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Exception: " + ex.Message);
		}
	}

KeyDown – Get specific keys pressed before conversions into local characters etc

using Windows.UI.Core;

Add to the Page_Loading

	//----- REGISTER FOR THE KEY DOWN EVENT SO WE GET ALL KEYPRESSES -----
	Window.Current.CoreWindow.KeyDown += CoreWindow_KeyDown;

Add to the Page_Unloaded

	Window.Current.CoreWindow.KeyDown -= CoreWindow_KeyDown;

Method that will be called

	//***********************************************
	//***********************************************
	//********** KEYPRESS RECEIVED ON PAGE **********
	//***********************************************
	//***********************************************
	private void CoreWindow_KeyDown(CoreWindow sender, KeyEventArgs args)
	{
		try
		{
			//Flag that keypress has been handled (to stop it repeating forever)
			args.Handled = true;

			//args.KeyCode = the the raw key code as typed after modifiers are applied.
			//	So if you hold CTRL+A you'll get a value of 1 (which is CTRL+A in ascii)
			//	SHIFT+Z will give you 90 'Z'
			//Note you'll get repeate calls for repeating characters

			string Key = args.VirtualKey.ToString();
			if (args.VirtualKey == Windows.System.VirtualKey.Escape)
			{
				//ESCAPE PRESSED

			}

			//If you need to see if a particular key is also pressed
			var SpecialKey = Window.Current.CoreWindow.GetKeyState(Windows.System.VirtualKey.LeftWindows);
			if (SpecialKey.HasFlag(Windows.UI.Core.CoreVirtualKeyStates.Down))
			{
				if (Key == "V")
				{
					//[WINDOWS]+'a' PRESSED

				}
			}

		}
		catch (Exception ex)
		{
			System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Exception: " + ex.Message);
		}
	}