Forum Discussion
Reset user choice for windows.protocol tel:
Interesting issue...
Microsoft would certainly be opposed to a package that attempted to take over a protocol handler (or file type association) as they insist that it should be up to the end-user. But that isn't what you are trying to do.
Unfortunately, we no longer get much in the way of responses from Microsoft in this tech community, so you only get unofficial thoughts from a "random internet guy".
You might need to implement a first run that just prompts the user with information on what they should do to clear it (or better yet instructions on using the Windows Settings app to change it to your handler).
There may be ways to have a first run pop out of the container to make the change you wanted, but you would run the risk of rejection by the store submission.
Tagging another random person, Bogdan Mitrache , in case he has experience in this area.
Thanks a lot for your reply TIMOTHY_MANGAN !
Guiding users through the process sounds like a good solution for now. We’ve already discussed this approach and will implement a form of it in the application. We’ll likely add a button in our settings that opens the Windows Default apps page, along with a short note to guide users.
After re-reading Microsoft’s policies, we agree that, even if we found a way to create the desired behavior, the Microsoft Store would likely reject the submission.
Sad that Microsoft isn’t as communicative these days, but the "random internet guys" here seem to be doing a pretty great job 😄Creating a custom form with instructions for the users is the choice I would go too, as this mostly follows MSFT's guidelines for first-launch configurations.
You could easily force a (re)set the registry the first time your app launches. However, you risk getting rejected during the evaluation phase. As Tim said, the MS teams are not so focused on giving us feedback or alternative solutions, but they really like to give you headaches, and you don't want your store submission blocked for this.
If you have the time, you could try a test, but with a different app submission, some test Hello World sample, where you disable registry virtualization (if you are ok with disabling it), and see if this passes the MS submission radar. I never tried it, but I see nothing mentioned about store restrictions in their docs, and you might have a higher chance of approval for this - you still need a custom form to ask the user to change the default (so you don't change this without the user approval, as MS requests), but basically you can override the registry from your app upon the users approval, without sending the users into the OS Default Apps settings and giving them instructions on how to do it.
