Microsoft says it will provide developers with a new API that will automatically ask Windows users for permission when pinning their apps to the taskbar, desktop, or the Start Menu.
Developers will also be able to send users to the correct Settings location via a new deep link URI when they want to make their app the default one for a specific file type or link type. This will be implemented as an extension to the already existing ms-settings: URI scheme.
Redmond wants these to become the standard supported methods for Windows app pinning and app defaults and pledged to also adopt them in Microsoft-developed apps.
“We will soon introduce a new publicly available API that will enable apps to pin either primary or secondary tiles to the Taskbar,” Microsoft’s Tali Roth and Aaron Grady said.
“This API will always invoke a trusted Windows user experience to clarify what is being requested to be pinned and to confirm that the user indeed wants to allow the pin to occur.”
While this will provide users more control over what apps get pinned to their taskbar, the pinning confirmation toast notification defaults to the ‘Accept’ button when it should, instead, either highlight the ‘Decline’ or leave it to the user to decide.
Microsoft is also yet to explain if the new app pinning API that also forces developers to ask for confirmation will be enforced in any way.
“We want to ensure that people are in control of what gets pinned to their Desktop, their Start menu and their Taskbar as well as to be able to control their default applications such as their default browser through consistent, clear and trustworthy Windows provided system dialogs and settings,” Roth and Grady added.
“We are committing that Microsoft Edge will release an update that adopts the new Settings deep link URI for defaults and public pinning APIs as they become available.”
These changes will begin rolling out to systems enrolled in the Windows Insider Dev Channel over the coming months.
