Forum Discussion
Reset user choice for windows.protocol tel:
Hi everyone,
we ship an MSIX that registers a full-trust Dialer.exe as a windows.protocol handler for tel: so users can place calls from Outlook etc.
Goal
After installing our MSIX, we’d like Windows to show the “How do you want to open this?” prompt again for tel: so users see the new option. With our old MSI this was easy, we deleted HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\<protocol>\UserChoice via the manifest entry:
<RemoveRegistryKey Id="WipeDialerOnInstall" Root="HKCU" Key="SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\tel\UserChoice" Action="removeOnInstall"/>
Problem
With MSIX there seems to be no manifest option to mimic that. We tried deleting UserChoice on first app start (HKCU, RegDeleteTree/SHDeleteKey), but it did not work.
Questions
- Is there any supported or recommended way to trigger the default-app prompt (or clear the choice) for a specific protocol when using MSIX?
- Is deleting UserChoice from a full-trust MSIX app considered supported/allowed for Store submissions?
Any guidance or stance appreciated!
Thanks!
2 Replies
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 😄
