Managing your favorite default application for web surfing, playing videos, or other tasks can be difficult on Windows, especially when Windows itself keeps resetting your options. This should be less of a problem in the future.
There are a few ways Windows applications can set themselves as the default application for certain links or files and add themselves to the taskbar. The process can be confusing, especially when some applications try to set themselves as default without your knowledge and when Windows tends to reset default settings after update. Windows also overrides some web actions to always open them in Microsoft Edge (e.g. clicking links in taskbar web search) instead of the current default web browser.
Microsoft promises a fix some the confusing behavior with default apps in a new blog post. The company said: “We want to ensure that people have control over what gets pinned to their desktop, start menu and taskbar and that they are able to manage their default applications like their default browser through consistent, clear and trusted control.” to control Windows provided system dialogs and settings.”
Microsoft is working on it a new deep-link URI for applications This will take users straight to the default app settings page in Windows 11. For example, if Firefox asks if you want to be the default web browser and you accept, the browser may take you to the settings page where the default browser can be changed. Windows 11 also allows apps to pin primary or secondary tiles to the taskbar with a new API that displays an alert with accept or decline buttons.
The Windows team plans to “take steps to mitigate unwanted changes to a user’s choices […] later this year after application developers have had time to incorporate these new best practices.” It sounds like Windows 11 will eventually stop applications from changing default settings through existing methods once the new APIs are available and apps adopt them have, but plans could still change there. Microsoft also promises to transition Edge to the new pinning and default features as they become available.
It seems Microsoft is making default apps and taskbar pins more like their equivalents on Android and iPhone devices, where apps can’t silently change your settings without asking. For example, if an app wants to be the default browser on Android or iPhone, all it can do is open the page in the System Settings app for you to make the change yourself.
The new functionality will be tested “in the coming months” on the Windows Insider Dev Channel.
Source: Windows blog
This article was previously published on Source link
