Bring the UWP app to the front of current window

Question

How can i use

await Windows.System.Launcher.LaunchUriAsync(new Uri("protocol://"));

to navigate to specific view of uwp application. Is there any way to bring the app in front of the screen, if app was minimized or hidden behind other apps?

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

How can i use await Windows.System.Launcher.LaunchUriAsync(new Uri("protocol://")); to navigate to specific view of uwp application

For this, firstly you need to add the Protocol declaration in your Package.appxmanifest file . (Go to declarations tab and add Protocol from the available protocols). ( MSDN Doc )

Here i am using "app-protocol" as the protocol name.

Once this is done, you need to override the OnActivated() method in your App.xaml.cs. This method will be called when the app is launched using the protocol. The arguments that we pass when calling the protocol can be retrieved here and based on that you can show your page or maybe pass that parameter to your page and let it handle the navigation .

For instance, if our Uri is app-protocol:login?param1=true, when you receive the ProtocolActivatedEventArgs eventArgs in the onActivated() method you will have access to the whole Uri.

You can use eventArgs.Uri to access all the Uri properties.

In any case your code should look something like this :

C#

protected override void OnActivated(IActivatedEventArgs args)
{
     if (args.Kind == ActivationKind.Protocol)
     {
         ProtocolActivatedEventArgs eventArgs = args as ProtocolActivatedEventArgs;

         // Get the root frame
         Frame rootFrame = Window.Current.Content as Frame;

         // Do not repeat app initialization when the Window already has content,
         // just ensure that the window is active
         if (rootFrame == null)
         {
             // Create a Frame to act as the navigation context and navigate to the first page
             rootFrame = new Frame();

             rootFrame.NavigationFailed += OnNavigationFailed;

             if (args.PreviousExecutionState == ApplicationExecutionState.Terminated)
             {
                 //TODO: Load state from previously suspended application
             }                    
             // Place the frame in the current Window
             Window.Current.Content = rootFrame;
         }

         //URI : app-protocol:login?param1=true
         //Logic for showing different pages/views based on parameters passed 
         if (eventArgs.Uri.PathAndQuery != string.Empty)//PathAndQuery:login?param1=true
         {
             var absolutePath = eventArgs.Uri.AbsolutePath;//AbsolutePath:login
             if (absolutePath.Equals("login"))
             {
                 rootFrame.Navigate(typeof(LoginPage));
             }
             else
             {
                 rootFrame.Navigate(typeof(MainPage));
             }
         }
         else
         {
             rootFrame.Navigate(typeof(MainPage));
         }                
     }
     // Ensure the current window is active
     Window.Current.Activate();
 }

---

Is there any way to bring the app in front of the screen, if app was minimized or hidden behind other apps?

We are calling Window.Current.Activate(); to ensure this.

Answer 2

To bring any UWP window to the front use this snippet (works if window with given viewId was already created and is either minimized or behind other windows:

private async Task TryActivateViewAsync(viewId)
{
    if (Window.Current.Dispatcher != null)
    {
        await Window.Current.Dispatcher.RunAsync(CoreDispatcherPriority.Normal, async () =>
        {
            if (await ApplicationViewSwitcher.TryShowAsStandaloneAsync(viewId))
            {
                await ApplicationViewSwitcher.SwitchAsync(viewId);
            }
        });
    }
}

Just as a reminder, viewId is an Identifier of a window which you can get when you create that window using:

var coreView = CoreApplication.CreateNewView(); // creates new view
await coreView.Dispatcher.RunAsync(CoreDispatcherPriority.Normal, () =>
{
    _someViewId = ApplicationView.GetForCurrentView().Id; // gets that view's id
}