I know that Windows 8 apps can't directly launch executable files, but recently I downloaded an app that can launch something similar. The app could launch Steam games (which are run in executable files). I figured out that the app did this because any Steam game can be launched using a URL, for example for Alan Wake the URL is steam://rungameid/108710 (I got this by creating a desktop shortcut for a game in Steam and viewing the shorcut's properties)
How can I create these kinds of URLs for other application .exe files? (using a desktop app is fine, but using a Metro app would be even better)
The technique is known as protocol activation (JavaScript reference | C#/VB/C++ reference) and you set most of this up in the manifest (see image below). If there is only one application that's installed and set up to handle protocol "XYZ" then that app will launch for the given URI; if there are multiple one that can handle it, then the user is prompted for which app they would like to launch.
Jerry Nixon has a great walkthrough on his blog as well.
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I have an application written in VB.NET that I want to move to Win10. It will always be a desktop application, however I would like it to have a start icon / tile in Win 10. Looking around I found this exact question which suggests to create a Metro App (now I believe called Windows App) which launches the desktop app. This is also discussed in this thread. So the questions;
These threads are a little old is the best way in Win10 to give a desktop app a Windows App Tile by using a Windows App as the Launcher for the desktop app?
It appears that in Win10 Microsoft has now allowed non-store apps to be installed in Update Security > SideloadApps. This needs to be enabled to install the App, but does this need to be always enabled. For example what happens after install if the user turns it off, will the app then not start?
For example I see in this link that there are 2 Registry keys to change, basically AllowAllTrustedApps and AllowDevelopmentWithoutDevLicense. Is it possible for my desktop installer to change these keys, install the Windows App (and everything else) and then change the keys back again?
Uninstalling? If I created a Windows App which only launched my desktop app then there is a possibility that the user uninstalls or deletes the Windows App, meaning my desktop app would be orphaned and lost. Any suggestion on solving this?
According to your description, I think what you need is Desktop Bridge. There is no need to use a Windows App as the Launcher for the desktop app.
You can try with Desktop App Converter, with this you can bring your existing desktop apps written for .NET 4.6.1 or Win32 to the Universal Windows Platform (UWP).
And after converting, you can replace the Assets generated by Desktop App Converter (DAC) automatically to provide custom Tiles/Icons. For more, you can refer to Manually convert your app to UWP using the Desktop Bridge.
I have responsive website and wanted to create app for windows phone. So is there any way to make the same? online or by using any other technology (like phone gap or something else). It means my website URL load on click of app icon.
There are different ways to do that. Basically you have three ways (but there are more!) to consider:
Native universal HTML5/JS app: Create a native app using HTML5 and Javascript directly. There is a nice jumpstart available in the Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA): http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/developing-universal-windows-apps-with-html-and-javascript-jump-start
WebView in a C# app: You can also add a WebView to a C# app and run your code inside a browser. This is done quite often - especially if developers want to port a web app very quickly to Windows Phone since all you have to do is to adjust your paths and you're good to go. There's a video on Channel9 by Bob Tabor: http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Windows-Phone-8-1-Development-for-Absolute-Beginners/Part-13-Working-with-the-Web-View-App-Template (This video is part of another MVA course: WP 8.1 app development for absolute beginners)
3rd party frameworks: You can use third party libraries like PhoneGap / Cordova to run your code. This is very much like 2. as your code is also executed in a browser. The advantage is that you can easily deploy your code on other platforms but you might run into performance issues under certain circumstances.
So if you want to load your page if you click on your app icon (2) might be your best shot.
For Windows 10 Universal Apps you can do that very easily using the Microsoft project Westminster:
https://dev.windows.com/en-us/uwp-bridges/web-apps
Step by step guide is here:
http://microsoftedge.github.io/WebAppsDocs/en-US/win10/CreateHWA.htm
It takes about five minutes to make the app, and then maybe a few hours to polish it, make the right icons from the Windows store etc.
I am developing apps (for MAC) which will NOT be hosted on the app store.These apps will be installed by dmg file. Can someone please confirm my assumptions?
Even if I dont sandbox the apps, app will still work on OSX 10.7 and above (provided see point 2 below)
If the security setting is "Mac Appstore and identified developer", in a non sandboxed scenario, user needs to right click and open the dmg file instead of double click it and installer can install apps to Application folder. Once installed applications can -
-Interact each other
-Access files
Yes, out of the app store apps don't have to run in sandbox.
The security setting has nothing to do with how your app is installed. If you build a installer (Xcode can do it for you) or you if you send the .app bundle in a dmg to be dragged into applications folder is a thing of your choice. An app that is not running in sandbox can interact with any other app and with any system resource, only limit is user permissions. OS X is still Unix and the fact that app store has rules about sandbox doesn't change the world out of app store.
I'm trying to make my windows 8 app block another app from being launched or launch another app depending on user settings. For example block a browser from opening and launch a media player.
Is this possible?
No, Windows Store apps are running in sandboxed environment and you definitely cannot block any app from being used from another app.
I have made iOS apps in the past but this is my first desktop mac app. We have a strange problem. I build for archive, validate it and send to test users. The app loads but doesn't get past the splash screen for those users. I tested with two non-developer users on my machine (same machine as development) and the same thing - it stalls on the splash screen in both Lion and Mtn Lion. For the two developer users, it is working fine.
Now something tells me there's a permissions or signing problem. But if that's the case, wouldn't the app not load at all? The other thing is that we are writing to the Library/Application Support folder. For these test users all the files that are supposed to be there are there - so the app is launching and writing.
Does this problem sound familiar at all or any tips on how to diagnose?