"Pinnable" flag for .appx file

Question

Hi,

Problem: The .appx that is built from Visual studio 2013 express doesn't want to pin to start menu via "drag and drop". Previous programmer made 2 configuration for building .appx. First configuration is used to build app with cheats for testing, second configuration is used to build normal app(ready for shipping to windows store). Cheat version works fine. On the other hand, normal version have strange behavior: it can be pinned to start menu(the right side of start menu) by "right click->Pin to start" BUT it is impossible to pin it by "drag and drop on start menu" method. While doing drag and drop method, it shows a red blocker sign near dragged icon.

Theory: I am guessing that there must be some kind of flag to enable/disable pin option; or at least there may be 1-2 conditions to disable pin ability.

Tests: 1)It can't be logo/app images mismatch, as they are identical in both configurations(just in case, I tried to play with images, no result), it must be code or configuration files.
2)I tried to mess up with Package.appxmanifest and WindowsStoreProxy.xml files, but nothing interesting happened.

Question: Is there are some kind of "pinnable" flag or other flags that may affect ability to pin app via "drag and drop"?

Extra info: I don't know if it is relevant, but I can pin app to taskbar via "drag and drop" method.

Answer 1

Hi,

It seems a little bit strange. Generally, the system will block the pin action only when the app is already pinned. Have you checked if this app is pinned into the start menu?

There is some APIs that could check if your app is supported to pin in the Start Menu. 

if (ApiInformation.IsTypePresent("Windows.UI.StartScreen.StartScreenManager"))
{
    // Primary tile API's supported!
}
else
{
    // Older version of Windows, no primary tile API's
}

// Get your own app list entry
// (which is always the first app list entry assuming you are not a multi-app package)
AppListEntry entry = (await Package.Current.GetAppListEntriesAsync())[0];

// Check if Start supports your app
bool isSupported = StartScreenManager.GetDefault().SupportsAppListEntry(entry);

You could try to use the above code to check if it is supported. For more information, please refer this:Check if Start supports your app

Best regards,

Roy

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