Auto-Launch .NET MAUI Apps on Android & Windows Startup

Android
Use a BroadcastReceiver to receive the system boot completion message. There are two ways to implement broadcast reception.
For Android 10 (test for other versions), you need to enable the overlay permission: <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW" />, located in Settings > Apps & Notifications > Apps > Advanced > Display over other apps > Allow.
First Method: Using Attributes

Remove startup-related permissions from the manifest file.
Create a class BootBroadcastReceiver in the Platforms/Android folder, with BroadcastReceiver as the base class.

Add the following attribute code above the namespace in the BootBroadcastReceiver.cs file.

1
2
3
4


using Android;

[assembly: UsesPermission(Manifest.Permission.SystemAlertWindow)]
[assembly: UsesPermission(Manifest.Permission.ReceiveBootCompleted)]

Add the following attribute code above the class.

1
2
3


[BroadcastReceiver(Enabled = true)]
[IntentFilter(new[] { Intent.ActionBootCompleted })]    
public class BootBroadcastReceiver : BroadcastReceiver

Implement the abstract method OnReceive of the base class.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12


public class BootBroadcastReceiver : BroadcastReceiver
{
    public override void OnReceive(Context? context, Intent? intent)
    {
        Toast.MakeText(context, "Starting...", ToastLength.Long)?.Show();
        var new_intent = new Intent(context, typeof(MainActivity));
        new_intent.AddFlags(ActivityFlags.ResetTaskIfNeeded);
        new_intent.AddFlags(ActivityFlags.ReorderToFront);
        new_intent.AddFlags(ActivityFlags.NewTask);
        context.StartActivity(new_intent);
    }
}

Second Method: Modifying the Manifest File

Add the following code to the AndroidManifest.xml file.

1
2


<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED"/>

Add the following code to the application section of the AndroidManifest.xml file.

1
2
3
4
5


<receiver android:name="com.yourpackagename.app.BootBroadcastReceiver">
      <intent-filter>
          <action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED"/>
      </intent-filter>
</receiver>

Create a class BootBroadcastReceiver in the Platforms/Android folder, with BroadcastReceiver as the base class.

Add the following attribute code above the class.

1
2
3


[BroadcastReceiver(Name = "com.yourpackagename.app.BootBroadcastReceiver", Enabled = true)]
[IntentFilter(new[] { Intent.ActionBootCompleted })]    
public class BootBroadcastReceiver : BroadcastReceiver

Implement the abstract method OnReceive of the base class.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12


public class BootBroadcastReceiver : BroadcastReceiver
{
    public override void OnReceive(Context? context, Intent? intent)
    {
        Toast.MakeText(context, "Starting...", ToastLength.Long)?.Show();
        var new_intent = new Intent(context, typeof(MainActivity));
        new_intent.AddFlags(ActivityFlags.ResetTaskIfNeeded);
        new_intent.AddFlags(ActivityFlags.ReorderToFront);
        new_intent.AddFlags(ActivityFlags.NewTask);
        context.StartActivity(new_intent);
    }
}

Windows
Use the command start program_name: to launch the program, place the command in a .bat file, and add it to the startup folder.