Develop Reference

How to find and list all UWP apps / packages?

My goal is to find and launch a UWP app by name (e.g. Twitter). I'm currently using an elevated desktop extension, following a guide by Stefan Wick.
In my full-trust Win32 console process, I'm currently using the PackageManager to find and list all the UWP apps, and it works on my machine. However, when I send my finalized app package to another user, nothing appears on his screen, even after running elevated.
Here's my current code:
var PkgMgr = new PackageManager();
var currUserPkgs = PkgMgr.FindPackagesForUser(string.Empty);
foreach (Package pkg in currUserPkgs)
{
string pkgName = pkg.DisplayName;
if (pkgName == "")
{
continue;
}
if (pkgName.Contains(appName) || appName.Contains(pkgName) ||
percentSimilarity(appName, pkgName) >= 0.50)
{
// we found it
appPkgName = pkg.Id.FamilyName;
break;
}
}
Why does this not bring up any packages on another user's machine? There's no error message that's called.
Also, is there another solution that can locate all UWP packages? Thank you!

Referencing WinRT/UWP libraries in a .NET desktop application while maintaining support for Windows 7

I am trying to reference "Windows.Networking.Connectivity" classes in my desktop application. I am basically interested in handling metered connections in my app.
Basically what I am trying to do is simple:
var connectionCost = NetworkInformation.GetInternetConnectionProfile().GetConnectionCost();
if (connectionCost.NetworkCostType == NetworkCostType.Unknown
|| connectionCost.NetworkCostType == NetworkCostType.Unrestricted)
{
//Connection cost is unknown/unrestricted
}
else
{
//Metered Network
}
The only method I know of that allows a desktop application to reference UWP assemblies is by manually editing the project file and adding the following line to the csproj file:
<TargetPlatformVersion>8.0</TargetPlatformVersion>
Applying the code and "hack" works fine but the problem is that doing so will prevent my app from running on Windows 7 which I need to support.
I was wondering if there is a way to reference UWP assemblies in a desktop application without having to drop support for Windows 7.
And since for the time being I only want to check if a connection is metered, I am open to suggestions about how to get this information without referencing Windows assemblies.

I found a way to use reflection and call UWP methods without having to specify a target platform. For my case this is what I did:
var networkInfoType = Type.GetType("Windows.Networking.Connectivity.NetworkInformation, Windows, ContentType=WindowsRuntime");
var profileType = Type.GetType("Windows.Networking.Connectivity.NetworkInformation, Windows, ContentType=WindowsRuntime");
var profileObj = networkInfoType.GetTypeInfo().GetDeclaredMethod("GetInternetConnectionProfile").Invoke(null, null);
dynamic profDyn = profileObj;
var costObj = profDyn.GetConnectionCost();
dynamic dynCost = costObj;
var costType = (NetworkCostType)dynCost.NetworkCostType;
if (costType == NetworkCostType.Unknown
|| costType == NetworkCostType.Unrestricted)
{
//Connection cost is unknown/unrestricted
}
else
{
//Metered Network
}

how to check the app is installed for first time

is there a way to check the app is installed for first time.I want this info cause i want to provide a small introduction session about the app features when user run the app for the first time.I want this to develop in windows phone 8.1 in c#
any help is welcome
Thank you

Maybe somethink like this:
On ApplicationStart:
Windows Phone 8:
if (!IsolatedStorageSettings.ApplicationSettings.Contains("FirstStart"))
{
//ShowTutorial
}else
{
IsolatedStorageSettings settings = IsolatedStorageSettings.ApplicationSettings;
if (!settings.Contains("FirstStart"))
{
settings.Add("FirstStart", "false");
}
//Start normal.
}
Here is a quickstart about Application Settings on Windows Phone: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/jj714090%28v=vs.105%29.aspx
Windows Phone 8.1
On ApplicationStart:
var localSettings = Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.Current.LocalSettings;
if (localSettings.Values["FirstStart"] == null)
{
//ShowTutorial
}
else
{
localSettings.Values["FirstStart"] = "true";
}
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/windows.storage.applicationdata.localsettings.ASPx?cs-save-lang=1&cs-lang=csharp#code-snippet-2

How to detect Windows Phone 8.1 OS version programmatically?

The question in title is not the real problem. I went through many sites and blogs and go to know that Environment.OSVersion gives you the current OS version of the phone using our app. But the problem is, There is no OSVersion under the class Environment. Please refer the screenshot for better understanding.
My question why I am not able to see the OSVersion property under Environment class? Am I missing something?

Universal/WinRT apps only work in wp 8.1, so the OS version can only be 8.1. When they make wp8.2 or wp9, they'll probably add a way to check what OS version is installed...
If you're looking for the firmware version, you can get it with:
Windows.Security.ExchangeActiveSyncProvisioning.EasClientDeviceInformation deviceInfo = new Windows.Security.ExchangeActiveSyncProvisioning.EasClientDeviceInformation();
var firmwareVersion = deviceInfo.SystemFirmwareVersion;

Copied from duped question:
Windows Phone 8.1 Silverlight apps can use the .NET version APIs. There is no supported mechanism to get a version number in Universal 8.1 apps, but you can try using reflection to get the Windows 10 AnalyticsInfo class, which will at least tell you the version number if you are running on Windows 10.
Note: Checking the OS version is almost always the wrong thing to do, unless you're simply displaying it to the user (eg, in an "About" box) or sending it to your back-end analytics server for number crunching. It should not be used to make any run-time decisions, because in general it's a poor proxy for whatever-you're-actually-trying-to-do.
Here is a sample:
var analyticsInfoType = Type.GetType(
"Windows.System.Profile.AnalyticsInfo, Windows, ContentType=WindowsRuntime");
var versionInfoType = Type.GetType(
"Windows.System.Profile.AnalyticsVersionInfo, Windows, ContentType=WindowsRuntime");
if (analyticsInfoType == null || versionInfoType == null)
{
Debug.WriteLine("Apparently you are not on Windows 10");
return;
}
var versionInfoProperty = analyticsInfoType.GetRuntimeProperty("VersionInfo");
object versionInfo = versionInfoProperty.GetValue(null);
var versionProperty = versionInfoType.GetRuntimeProperty("DeviceFamilyVersion");
object familyVersion = versionProperty.GetValue(versionInfo);
long versionBytes;
if (!long.TryParse(familyVersion.ToString(), out versionBytes))
{
Debug.WriteLine("Can't parse version number");
return;
}
Version uapVersion = new Version((ushort)(versionBytes >> 48),
(ushort)(versionBytes >> 32),
(ushort)(versionBytes >> 16),
(ushort)(versionBytes));
Debug.WriteLine("UAP Version is " + uapVersion);
Obviously you can update this to return the version etc. rather than print it to the debug console.

You cannot get the OS Version in Windows 8.1 .Check the following link for the same - https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsapps/en-US/2b455331-3bad-4d26-b615-a59d0e05d0dd/how-to-get-os-version-on-window-phone?forum=wpdevelop

I found a tricky way to detect if a device is running a Windows Phone 8.1 or Windows Phone 10. I compared 3 different devices, a Nokia Lumia 925 ( wp 8.1 ) a Nokia Lumia 735 ( wp 10 ) and a Nokia Lumia 930 ( wp 10 ). I noticed that on wp8.1 there is no device info id ( it causes a not implemented exception ) but it exists on windows phone 10 on both tested devices. Morover the system firmware version format seems different between wp 8.1 and wp 10 ( the first is xxxx.xxxxx.xxxx.xxxx while the second is xxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxx ). Below my function:
/// <summary>
/// Indicates if this device is running a version of Windows Phone 8.1. It use a dirty trick for detecting the OS major version
/// based on the system firmware version format (8.1 is xxxx.xxxxx.xxxx.xxxx while 10 is xxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxx )
/// moreover, the "deviceInfo.id" is not implemented on Windows Phone 8.1, but it is on Windows Phone 10
/// </summary>
/// <returns></returns>
public static bool liIsWindowsPhone81(bool basedOnDeviceInfoId)
{
EasClientDeviceInformation deviceInfo = new Windows.Security.ExchangeActiveSyncProvisioning.EasClientDeviceInformation();
bool isWin81 = false;
if (basedOnDeviceInfoId)
{
try
{
var deviceInfoId = deviceInfo.Id;
}
catch
{
isWin81 = true;
}
}
else
{
string firmwareVersion = deviceInfo.SystemFirmwareVersion.Trim();
string[] parts = firmwareVersion.Split('.');
if (parts[0].Length == 4 && parts[1].Length == 5 && parts[2].Length == 4 && parts[3].Length == 4)
{
isWin81 = true;
}
}
return isWin81;
}
I haven't had the opportunity to test this on further devices, but so far seems to work. I use it to distinguish the code for the app rating function between Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows Phone 10, that in my specific case are not UWP
Hope this helps

If your app is Silverlight based, you can use System.Environment.OSVersion.Version across Windows Phone 8.0 and 8.1 as well as Windows Mobile 10.
Here is an example of a method we utilize when determining whether to display our own opt-in dialog for geo-tracking or let the Windows Mobile 10 present its own opt-in dialog.
public static bool IsWindowsPhone8x()
{
try
{
Version version = System.Environment.OSVersion.Version;
return version.Major > 8 ? false : true;
}
catch (Exception)
{
return false;
}
}

Simply use this line to get the Application Name and Id, publisher name etc...
string name = Windows.ApplicationModel.Package.Current.DisplayName;

struggling with mobile broadband api windows 7 and windows 8 with C#, not sure what to install

I have an application that requires to control mobile broadband API.
I am struggling on correctly installing the api on my devices.
I've been follow the instructions in this document:
http://www.google.be/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.microsoft.com%2Fdownload%2F7%2FE%2F7%2F7E7662CF-CBEA-470B-A97E-CE7CE0D98DC2%2FMB_ManagedCode.docx&ei=kyvmUs7jE4e60QWbooHYDg&usg=AFQjCNG6yaGf4sRhdbWI99fE7tmQX8cmnA&sig2=2Fg-_DRYBIselKR19wTq2Q
and trying to combine the steps with this stackoverflow explanation
C# Read Windows Mobile Broadband connection properties
I have been able to lay a reference from visual studio to mbnapi.tlb in V7.0/lib. and I automatically now have a interop.mbnapi.tlb in my obj/debug folder.
When trying to "check the SIM is inserted and working / activated". => my code crashes on the following line
IMbnInterface[] mobileInterfaces = mbnInfMgrInterface.GetInterfaces() as IMbnInterface[];
When I run it on windows 8, mbnInfMgrInterface == null
I have already tried to install the same SDK on windows 8 as stated in the requirements of the document but the SDK is only meant for windows 7...
I have tried to register the mbnapi in windows 8 by performing
Regtlibv12 Mbnapi.tlb
no luck whatsoever...
what do I need to do to get this to work please?
anyone has some experience in this?
EDIT. on windows 7 (my development machine), I get the message "Device not ready", I think this is normal because I don't have mobile broadband on it, on windows 8 I do, but there the mobile interface manager is null => mbnInfMgrInterface == null.
thank you,

Not sure exactly what you are after, but after struggling with IMbnInterface and GetSignalStrength() (see https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd323166(v=vs.85).aspx) and being unsuccessful, I found that you can obtain a lot of info using WMI:
int maxBandwidth = 0;
string query = "SELECT * FROM Win32_PerfRawData_Tcpip_NetworkInterface";
ManagementObjectSearcher moSearch = new ManagementObjectSearcher(query);
ManagementObjectCollection moCollection = moSearch.Get();
foreach (ManagementObject mo in moCollection)
{
if (Convert.ToInt32(mo["CurrentBandwidth"]) > maxBandwidth)
{
// Instead of CurrentBandwidth you may want to use BytesReceivedPerSec
maxBandwidth = Convert.ToInt32(mo["CurrentBandwidth"]);
}
}
Please see answer here: Determining the network connection link speed and here is the list of properties you can obtain: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394293(VS.85).aspx
UPDATE:
Please note that I can build and debug the above code (as part of a larger WPF application) from within Visual Studio 2015 on either Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, and I can deploy the same application onto Windows 7 where it runs successfully. For some reason when I deploy this application on Windows 8.1, I get an Invalid query message.
UPDATE 2:
Please note that I found you cannot get the network info in Windows 8.1 in the same way as you do in Windows 7, in that the System.Management namespace is not available on Windows 8.1. See https://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps/network-information-sample-63aaa201
string connectionProfileInfo = string.Empty;
ConnectionProfile InternetConnectionProfile = NetworkInformation.GetInternetConnectionProfile();
if (InternetConnectionProfile == null)
{
rootPage.NotifyUser("Not connected to Internet\n", NotifyType.StatusMessage);
}
else
{
connectionProfileInfo = GetConnectionProfile(InternetConnectionProfile);
OutputText.Text = connectionProfileInfo;
rootPage.NotifyUser("Success", NotifyType.StatusMessage);
}
// Which calls this function, that allows you to determine how strong the signal is and the associated bandwidth
string GetConnectionProfile(ConnectionProfile connectionProfile)
{
// ...
if (connectionProfile.GetSignalBars().HasValue)
{
connectionProfileInfo += "====================\n";
connectionProfileInfo += "Signal Bars: " + connectionProfile.GetSignalBars() + "\n";
}
// ...
}