How to programmatically launch an app in Xbox S on boot - boot

I've been tasked with developing an app for Xbox to match our existing suite of apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, iOS, and Android. One of the key features of our app is that it must launch automatically on boot.
Is there any way to create an app that will launch automatically on boot in Xbox? I'm focused on Xbox S at present because I have one I can test on.
The auto-launching portion of the app doesn't even have to have a user interface. It can, but it doesn't have to. So even just a background service would be enough. But some kind of custom code has to launch on boot, or else the platform just isn't viable for our product.
I've Googled and Googled and cannot find anything that speaks to this (which seems to me to indicate that it cannot be done). I suspected antivirus software would launch on boot, so perhaps I could try to figure out how Norton does it. But there doesn't seem to be a Norton for Xbox, or any other antivirus software for Xbox for that matter. It even looks like the user himself cannot manually set any of his apps to launch on boot.
If this is possible, and you know how to do it, please provide enough instructions (or a link to something that does provide them) that I should be able to create a "Hello World" app (or something similarly trivial) that launches on boot.
If you know for a fact that it isn't possible, please let me know that it is impossible, and also tell me how you know this, so that I can stop spinning my wheels.
Thank you so much!

Related

Chrome app for Windows in the background, using hooks

I want to write an application for Windows that will work in the background and track some hooks, but as yet are not familiar with this development environment would like to know whether it is possible implementation of these tasks into the chrome app. Why chrome app? -Because, the application will interact with the application for android, it's simply easier to develop ...
So my questions are:
1. Chrome app in the background?
2. Chrome app and windows hooks?
If possible please bring a small example, or a manual on the implementation of the goals ...
P.S. Thank you very much for your participation and apologies for mistakes and awkwardness of speech (English is not my native language)!
I am pretty sure you will be unable to use global keyboard hooks in a chrome app. It would allow key loggers and other "bad thing"...
You can read this for more information :https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/chromium-extensions/yPGeRn9y7Dc

Create a windows application using osx

I have a project to do (an app relied to a DB, used to display and modify data, basically CRUD). The application will run on windows, but I don't have any windows computer (and don't want to buy one) so I will develop on OS X.
So, my question is which language should I use ? I know a bit (but really a bit) in Ruby and Java. I'm a good C# developer, but without windows and VS, it won't be really useful.
My priorities are : a simple GUI toolkit, and a simple packaging/distribution system, because my client isn't good in IT. If I could have fun during development it would be a plus (and I say this because I think Ruby is funnier) but it's not a priority.
So, any programming language/UI toolkit simple to deploy and to use on OS X who could run on Windows ?
Thank you !
IT kind of depends on your app really. you could make it a web app if you want nice GUI and with easy html css and there is alot precoded for you. hosting on some web service with basic mysql or any other database shouldnt be an issue costs wise and your client can just open the browser and it runs, if he has internet connection available where he needs the app to work. anyway it runs everywhere and since yo know java... thats what i would.
depends on your app really.
Most people that need to do this just get a VM running Windows, and run Visual Studio from there.

How to track WinRT applications (in Win32 it was simple)?

In "old" times I created simple tool for Windows users, which tracks what they were doing in the front of computer (where simple activity monitor). I was using Win32 api and functions like GetForegroundWindow, GetWindowThreadProcessId, etc.
Yesterday I installed new Windows 8 and tired to run my program. I got 50% success: for "classic" desktop it works like always:).
For Metro UI I just got one application: WWAHost :( without any details.
So my question is: is there a any way for tracking active application in Metro UI?
Thanks for help
UPDATE:
I'm trying to access Metro UI app from Win32, I know that accessing Metro app from another Metro app is impossible
You see, in WinRT, your application is the top-most application. And when your app is not the top-most application then your threads are suspended and the kernel will not schedule any more operations for your app. End of story.
This means what you are wanting to accomplish cannot be done in WinRT. You are thinking more like a resident app or a service with access to the desktop. Those apps have two advantages. 1) they are always running. And, 2) they have the API to do what you are wanting.
WinRT intentionally puts apps in a sandbox so that the user's experience, performance and battery life are protected. Your scenario and scores more like yours underscore the continuing need for desktop apps. (as long as there is a continuing need for those types of apps ;)).
Sorry, if this is bad news.
As for enumerating other apps. This is also not possible. You cannot know if another app is installed or if it is running. You can call out to another app through protocol activation or file activation or (in a sense) through the share contract. But you are unaware if they get the message and if the user has it installed in the first place. And this is by design.
It is worth mentioning that you can pinvoke to Win32 APIs in your WinRT application. It causes lots of problems and can create a headache to get certified into the store. But even then, not all APIs are open to you. And you will find this particular use case is a non-starter.
I am sure this will not be possible. With Windows 8 'Metro' only a single application is active. All other applications will be in a suspended state whilst the topmost application is running. This makes it impossible to write an application that monitors other applications which are currently executing.
See the numerous articles on the Windows 8 app lifecycle.

What is the easiest way to test/debug Symbian applications on the phone?

I am currently experimenting with programming for my Nokia 5800 XpressMusic (running Symbian 9.4). Setting up the development environment (Carbide C++) was already a huge pain, but now that I am actually able to build something the pain doesn't stop! It seems there is an incredible overhead involved when you actually want to test an application on the phone. But I really hope somebody more experienced than me knows some easy way to do it.
If I understood right every application has to be signed. I can sign applications myself, so this is not a problem and it seems to work fairly well. But then it seems not all capabilities are available if I do this, and the one I need is amongst them. So now I have the option to buy a publisher ID to get a developer certificate (current cost: 200$ - no thanks) or I have to upload the application every time to symbiansigned! Every time I change the code and want to test on the phone I have to upload the thing using a stupid web form!
But now I was excited to find that you can do some remote debugging stuff with a thing called TRK (maybe this spares me the signing?). I hoped that I could use this to connect Carbide and my phone. But this doesn't quite work. My phone doesn't show the application required for this connection although it installed properly. I had a look at the supported Symbian version number and it seems to be 9.2, so not mine :( Stuck again?
And the emulator is no option because it doesn't support sensors and cameras :(
So what am I doing wrong (and sure there must be something)? Is the only way to test my app on the phone to actually upload it every time, wait for it to getting signed, download it again, install it and test - just to see it didn't work and that I have to repeat this process over and over again?? PLEASE no...
follow the instructions here http://www.forum.nokia.com/Distribute/Packaging_and_signing.xhtml to get yourself a free certificate for 5 testing devices, then you can use this certificate to sign your applications directly without using open sign.
When you use TRK, your application is still installed on the phone (in background, with so called silent installation API - by the way, you can use it too, but it's offtopic), because the only eligible way for a binary to get into the phone is the Installer Service. So you still need some certificate. All three options to get certificate mentioned here are ok, though the last, free one (from Mahdi Hijazi), I suppose, is the preferred. :)
Please go to
http://www.opda.net.cn/register.php
then apply for a OPDA Developer Certificate and download signer tool from the site and use it to sign your symbian applications.

Running a Windows Phone 7 app on the desktop

I have an application for Windows Phone 7 that I need to bundle up and send to several doctors for a content review. Ideas on how this might be done? I can't expect the docs to install the full SDK, but if I could bundle the emulator with it that might work, or if there's an easy way to convert the app to a Windows EXE that would as well. All suggestions welcomed!
While the theory is that since it's SIlverlight it should just run on the desktop. Years of Compact Framework development have taught me that this theory is almost never correct and getting it to work is often a real chore.
Microsoft has not yet delivered a stand-along WinPhone emulator (no idea if they will, but they did for WinMo) so for now that option is off the table. Getting your end user to install the stand-alone emulator is a fair bit of work anyway.
To be honest, my experience has been that just doing a Camtasia capture of the developer screen while you step through the app is one of the easiest ways to get ideas across to these types of groups. No, the end result isn't interactive, so they can't clock on buttons themselves, but if you walk through the feature they want to see, you can usually answer 95% of the questions this way.
When you need to address that other 5%, my experience has been that it's easiest to just send them a physical device with the app installed.
If they are (or have ready access to someone who is) fairly tech-savvy, shipping a Virtual PC image of a PC with the emulator installed and the app installed on it sometimes works.
Dot NET code using MS libraries is partially upwards compatible and most runtime classes present on a mobile device are also available on desktop Windows (see MSDN docs for details). So create a copy of your source code, ask visual studio to create a desktop .exe from it, it'll tell you it can't for several reasons, and you will need to recode some sections of it, resize the frame window etc. to make it work.
If one is careful about what methods one uses, I have managed to actually use the exact same .EXE file on the desktop without problems!
You simply cannot present the application without the SDK, since Windows Phone 7 applications rely on a completely different subset of .NET Framework and require an emulator to run XAP packages. Although you might say that it's the same Silverlight, don't forget about Microsoft.Phone and derivatives - you need the SDK in order for those libraries to be properly handled.
Also, you cannot convert a WP7 application to a Windows executable due to difference in platform architectures.
What you could do is simply allow the doctors to test your application through TeamViewer or similar products.
i think a "killer app" for winphone7+silverlight would be a desktop browser based emulator. want to try the app? just have the store run the emulator in the browser. (yeah, lots of technical hurdles, limited multitouch etc, but it would be pretty slick!)

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