AutoPlay for UWP device apps

2025-07-02

Important

Device metadata is deprecated and will be removed in a future release of Windows. For information about the replacement for this functionality, see Driver Package Container Metadata.

Device manufacturers can specify their UWP device app as an AutoPlay handler for their device. They can also let other UWP apps act as AutoPlay handlers for their device. This article describes how to use the Device Metadata Authoring Wizard to enable AutoPlay. It also describes how to handle AutoPlay activations in your app. For more info about device apps, see Meet UWP device apps.

You don't need to use device metadata for all types of AutoPlay. Without device metadata, AutoPlay lets you provide your app as an option when a user connects a device to a PC. These devices nonvolume devices like a camera or media player, or volume devices like a USB thumb drive, SD card, or DVD. AutoPlay also lets you register your app as an option when users share files between two machines by using Proximity (tapping). But your app can't install automatically without device metadata. For more info about using AutoPlay when device metadata isn't required, see Auto-launching with AutoPlay.

AutoPlay overview

Depending on the version of your app, you can enable AutoPlay in these ways:

Only your UWP device app can handle AutoPlay activation for your device (supported in Windows 8, Windows 8.1).
Other UWP apps can handle AutoPlay activation for your device (supported in Windows 8.1 only).
Your UWP device app and other UWP apps can handle AutoPlay activation for your device (supported in Windows 8.1 only).

This example shows an AutoPlay dialog for an app named Contoso Dashboard that registered as the AutoPlay handler for the Contoso Pedometer device:

example autoplay dialog for a device.

AutoPlay supports these device types when using device metadata with your app:

Device class	AutoPlay supported in Windows 8	AutoPlay supported in Windows 8.1
Digital still camera
Digital video camcorder
Portable media player
Cell phone
Mobile broadband
Webcam
Human Interface Device (HID)
Printers, scanners, fax
PC
Smart card
General port
Bluetooth device

Before you begin

Make sure you have the Device Metadata Authoring Wizard. You need it to enable AutoPlay. In this release, this wizard is included with Microsoft Visual Studio Professional and Microsoft Visual Studio Ultimate. But if you have Microsoft Visual Studio Express for Windows, you need to download the standalone SDK for Windows 8.1 to get the wizard.
Associate your app with the Microsoft Store. You need your app's package information to enable AutoPlay. For more info, see the Associate your app with the Microsoft Store section in Step 1: Create a UWP device app.
Create the device metadata. For more information, see Step 2: Create device metadata in the Build a UWP device app step-by-step guide.

Enabling AutoPlay

The Device Metadata Authoring Wizard lets you declare your UWP app to be the default AutoPlay handler for your device. You can also let other UWP apps act as AutoPlay handlers for your device. You can choose either of these options or both of these options.

To enable AutoPlay with the Device Metadata Authoring Wizard**

Start the Device Metadata Authoring Wizard from %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Windows Kits\8.1\bin\x86, by double-clicking DeviceMetadataWizard.exe.
To edit your existing device metadata package, select Edit Device Metadata.
In the Open dialog box, locate the device metadata package associated with your UWP device app. (It has a devicemetadata-ms file extension.)
(Optional.) If you don't have your device app's Package name, Publisher name, and App ID handy, select App Info to view the packaging information for your UWP device app.
Select Windows Info to specify AutoPlay details.
If you want to specify an app to be the default AutoPlay handler for your device, select Use a UWP device app. You can select any UWP app or UWP device app. However, that app must handle the AutoPlay activation for your device. The app must also specify the corresponding experience ID in the app package manifest (as specified in the next procedure).
- Package name: In the app package manifest, Package name is the Name attribute of the Identity element.
- Publisher name: In the app package manifest, Publisher name is the Publisher attribute of the Identity element.
- App ID: In the app package manifest, App ID is the ID attribute of the Application element.
- Verb: Verb is the identifier for the AutoPlay activation. Your app uses it to determine if the activation came from your device. You can use any value for the Verb setting, except for open, which is reserved.
- AutoPlay event type: Leave this field set to Device. In the device metadata, the wizard automatically specifies the experience ID associated with your UWP device app.
If you want to let other apps act as AutoPlay handlers for your device, select Enable AutoPlay for registered apps.
When you're done, select Next.
When you see the Finish page, write down the Experience ID. You'll need it in the next procedure, when you handle the AutoPlay activation in your app.
Verify your Save information and select Save to update your device metadata package.

Handling AutoPlay activation

To handle an AutoPlay activation in your app, register for a windows.autoPlayDevice extension in the app package manifest. Then, handle that event in the OnActivated event of the Application object. Your app can register as an AutoPlay handler for multiple devices.

To register your app as an AutoPlay handler

To register your app as an AutoPlay handler for your device, specify the experience ID associated with your UWP device app, the AutoPlay Verb, and ActionDisplayName used to activate your app.

Open your app's project in Microsoft Visual Studio.
In Solution Explorer, right-click the Package.appxmanifest file and select View Code. This option displays the app package manifest in the XML (Text) Editor.

In the Application element, below the VisualElements element, paste the following Extensions element into your package manifest file.

      <Extensions>
        <Extension Category="windows.autoPlayDevice">
          <AutoPlayDevice>
            <LaunchAction
                Verb="showDevice1"
                ActionDisplayName="Launch App for Device 1"
                DeviceEvent="ExperienceID:{00000000-ABCD-EF00-0000-000000000000}"/>
          </AutoPlayDevice>
        </Extension>
      </Extensions>

Replace the AutoPlay values from this example with the actual values for your app:
- Verb: The identifier for the AutoPlay activation. Your app uses it to determine if the activation came from your device. If your app was specified as the default AutoPlay handler for your device, this value should match the Verb that you specified in the device metadata. If your app wasn't specified as the default AutoPlay handler for your device, you can use any value for the Verb setting, except for open, which is reserved.
- ActionDisplayName: The string that AutoPlay displays for your app.
- Experience ID: The experience ID GUID that associates your app with your device. This GUID is the value that you wrote down in the previous procedure.

To handle AutoPlay activation

When your device triggers an AutoPlay activation, the activation kind is Windows.ApplicationModel.Activation.ActivationKind.device. To check how your app was activated, use the eventObj object passed by OnActivated. If it was from AutoPlay, you can use eventObj to determine which device ID and AutoPlay verb caused the activation.

In this example, the activation event parameter (eventObj) carries the device's ID and the verb for activation.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <script type="text/javascript">
    function OnActivated(eventObj) {
        if (eventObj.kind == Windows.ApplicationModel.Activation.ActivationKind.launch) {
            // Activated by the user.
        }
        else if (eventObj.kind == Windows.ApplicationModel.Activation.ActivationKind.device) {
            // Activated by a device, for AutoPlay.
            // Device path = eventObj.deviceInformationId;
            // verb ("showDevice1") = eventObj.verb;
        }
    }

    Windows.UI.WebUI.WebUIApplication.addEventListener("activated", OnActivated, false);
  </script>
</head>

<body>
...
...
...
</body>
</html>

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