Launchers and choosers for Direct3D apps for Windows Phone 8
[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]
Launchers and choosers are features of Windows Phone that give app users the ability to perform common tasks such as sending an email or launching the phone’s web browser. In earlier versions of Windows Phone, apps could be written only using managed code, so launchers and choosers APIs were exposed in a managed code interface. These APIs are still supported in Windows Phone 8, and a few new managed launchers and choosers APIs have been added. Windows Phone 8 introduces the ability to create Direct3D apps. The managed launchers and choosers APIs cannot be called from a Direct3D app. Instead, a new set of APIs are available through which you can perform many of the same tasks from a Direct3D app.
If you haven’t decided which type of app you want to create, Direct3D app or managed app, see Choosing the right project template for your game for Windows Phone 8. For info about using Windows Phone managed launchers and choosers APIs, see Launchers and Choosers for Windows Phone 8.
Launching built-in apps
Many of the launchers and choosers simply launch apps that are built in to the phone. These apps can be launched from both native or managed code by calling LaunchUriAsync(Uri) and passing in the URI associated with the app you want to launch. Apps for which there are dedicated managed code Launchers and Choosers that can also be launched this way include the following.
For more information on launching these tasks using native code, see URI schemes for launching built-in apps for Windows Phone 8.
Direct3D Launchers and Choosers that require code
Two of the tasks that have dedicated managed APIs can’t simply be launched with a URI. These are the PhotoChooserTask and the ShareLinkTask. To get the functionality of these APIs in a DirectX, you must implement them in native code. The following topics walk you through this.
How to use the photo picker from a Direct3D app for Windows Phone 8
How to share text and links from a Direct3D app for Windows Phone 8
To see all of the managed launchers and choosers available to managed apps, see Launchers and Choosers for Windows Phone 8.