Are there any restrictions on opening a Windows runtime (Metro) app from within another Windows runtime app?

Question

I found guides to opening Android and iPhone apps from each other on the internet, but I am looking for the same information for Windows Universal/Metro/RT apps.

Are there any restrictions on opening one app from another one, or is it just the same as opening a Windows desktop app from inside another desktop app?

Answer 1

There is no direct way for a Windows Runtime app to launch another app.

Windows Runtime apps can launch files or URLs into the default handler for the file type or URL, but they cannot directly launch executables and cannot control which specific app is launched as the handler.

On the other side of the contract, a Windows Runtime app can register as the default handler for a file type or protocol. See How to handle URI activation on MSDN.

For example, an app can open Bing maps with it's URI scheme as follows:

await Launcher.LaunchUriAsync(new Uri("bingmaps:?cp=40.726966~-74.006076"));