RemoteAppDock

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A Windows taskbar replacement implemented in Python, designed for RDP RemoteApp environments.

Use Cases

RemoteAppDock is intended for users who run Windows applications through RDP RemoteApp and miss the regular Windows desktop shell experience. Specifically, it addresses the following gaps in a typical RemoteApp session:

• Window management: RemoteApp normally shows only the application window itself. RemoteAppDock restores a taskbar-like window list so you can see and switch between all open windows.
• Tray icon visibility: Many Windows applications put important controls in the notification area (system tray). RemoteAppDock hosts these tray icons so they remain visible and usable.
• Program launcher: RemoteApp sessions usually do not provide a Start menu or launcher. RemoteAppDock provides a simple application launcher to start additional programs from within the RemoteApp session.

To learn how to create and publish RemoteApp programs on RDP, see the RemoteApp Tool documentation.

Scope

• Window management (task list)
• Tray management (notification area)
• Taskbar positioning (AppBar)
• Localization (i18n)

Tech Stack

• Python 3.13
• PySide6
• ctypes / pywin32
• PyInstaller
• uv

Development

uv sync
uv run python -m remoteappdock.main

Testing

uv run --group dev pytest

Packaging

uv run python -m PyInstaller RemoteAppDock.spec --clean --noconfirm

Acknowledgements

The low-level implementation of the tray protocol and Explorer taskbar control is derived from and ported after ManagedShell (C# / .NET, Apache License 2.0). The affected files carry derivation notices in their headers; see NOTICE for attribution and third_party/ManagedShell/LICENSE for the full Apache-2.0 license text.

License

RemoteAppDock as a whole is licensed under the GNU GPL v3 or (at your option) any later version. The portions ported from ManagedShell are incorporated under the Apache-2.0 license (which is compatible with GPLv3) and remain subject to its attribution requirements.