Launching windows 10 store apps

Question

I am looking for a way to launch/run windows store apps on windows 10/8.1 from C#.

Examples of the apps I am trying to run are

1. Calculator
2. Photos
3. Settings

Note: in Windows 10 these are no longer standard .exe files that can be executed by double clicking or calling Process.Start() as they are now windows store apps.

I have tried to use IApplicationActivationManager but I cannot find decent documentation with examples of how to use it.

Answer 1

There are several ways to do it. The easiest way is to use Process.Start and the URL or file handlers.

For example this will open the Video app:

Process.Start("microsoftvideo://");

Or the Store on the updates page:

Process.Start("ms-windows-store:updates");

Or the Photos app:

Process.Start("ms-photos://");

There are several more handles, some of them can you find here. You can find the names when you open the registry key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Extensions\ContractId\Windows.Protocol\PackageId. Look for the CustomProperties key. It has an attribute Name. That is the one to use.

Some other useful pointer can be found on SU: How do I run a Metro-Application from the command-line in Windows 8?.

Answer 2

I found a cool way to run every Windows Universal apps which downloaded via Windows Store or preinstalled. Each Windows 10 Universal app has an AUMID which stands for 'Application User Model ID'.

PowerShell Command to get all AUMID:

get-StartApps

Output:

PS C:\> get-StartApps

Name                      AppID
----                      -----
Skype                     Microsoft.SkypeApp_kzf8qxf38zg5c!App
Snip & Sketch             Microsoft.ScreenSketch_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App
Mail                      microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!microsoft.w...
Calendar                  microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!microsoft.w...
Movies & TV               Microsoft.ZuneVideo_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.ZuneVideo
OneNote for Windows 10    Microsoft.Office.OneNote_8wekyb3d8bbwe!microsoft.onenoteim
Photos                    Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App
Video Editor              Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe!SecondaryEntry
Maps                      Microsoft.WindowsMaps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App
Alarms & Clock            Microsoft.WindowsAlarms_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App
Voice Recorder            Microsoft.WindowsSoundRecorder_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App
Feedback Hub              Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App
Xbox Game Bar             Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App
Camera                    Microsoft.WindowsCamera_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App
Microsoft Store           Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App
Weather                   Microsoft.BingWeather_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App
Cortana                   Microsoft.549981C3F5F10_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App
Instagram                 Facebook.InstagramBeta_8xx8rvfyw5nnt!Instagram
...

So now, you can start any universal app via its AUMID like this:

explorer shell:appsfolder\[AUMID]

For example, if you want to execute Skype:

explorer shell:appsfolder\Microsoft.SkypeApp_kzf8qxf38zg5c!App

Now it's the time to back to Csharp:

Process.Start("explorer shell:appsfolder\Microsoft.BingWeather_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App");

The Windows Weather App will execute.