Microsoft is trying to actively develop its ecosystem of devices by adding a large number of necessary functions to them. Over the past couple of years, the Windows operating system has introduced several new innovative features such as the smart voice assistant Cortana, voice text input and synchronization with other devices of the company. Following Apple, the creators of one of the most popular operating systems in the world introduced their own store of applications and programs, Microsoft Store. The service was first introduced in Windows 8.1 and successfully continued to develop in version 10 of the system. Most often it is pre-installed, but in some cases, installing the Microsoft Store will require manual intervention.
Cloud storage
Dropbox
A client of the most popular cloud service that provides convenient access to documents, photos, videos and other files on all your devices connected to the Dropbox cloud.
Dropbox for S mode
Developer
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
OneDrive
Another cloud, only now for Microsoft fans. If you don't want to use the default OneDrive client, this app can be an alternative solution.
OneDrive
Microsoft Corporation
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
G Drive
Google did not publish its Google Drive client in the Microsoft Store. You can install a third-party application instead. G Drive is a very nice client that does everything the same as the web version of Google storage, but also fits perfectly into the visual style of the system.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9p8t5w08rflc
Beginning of work
Stage 0. Basic points before starting the publication process.
1. Decide on the name of the project and reserve it (if you haven’t already reserved it).
To reserve a product name, you must go to the Development Center dashboard. You should automatically be taken to the Review page. If for some reason this does not happen, then you should use the side menu.
On the “Overview” page, you must click on the “Create a new application” button.
You will then be prompted to enter a name for the application, as well as check its availability and make a reservation.
If the check is successful, you will see a green checkmark:
But if the name is not available (for example, reserved by someone), then when you check or try to reserve you will see the following:
If your reservation is successful, you will be redirected to the application overview page:
2. Fill in the information about the build and game. To do this, go to File -> Build Settings.
In the window that opens, you need to add scenes for assembly (to do this, use Add Open Scenes
or simply drag them with the mouse from
Assets
to the
Scenes In Build
), then change the platform to
Windows Store
(select Windows Store in the Platform list, then click Switch Platform), view the build parameters - SDK, Target device, UWP Build Type, etc. , after which, either leave them as is, or change them if necessary.
When you're done with that, click the Player Settings
.
Next, Player Settings
, in which you need to fill in information about the company and the game.
Note
At the time of writing, there were restrictions on the weight of icons of 204800 bytes. So if your icons are larger than this size, expect something like this when creating app packages in Visual Studio:
When you're done with Player Settings, go back to the build window (File -> Build Settings) and feel free to click
Build
, select a folder for the build and wait for the build to finish.
Stage 1: Build and Certify in Visual Studio
Once you have built your project in Unity, you should have something like this in your build folder:
Now you need to open the .sln file (also known as Microsoft Visual Studio Solution) in Visual Studio.
Once the file is open, you should look at the Solution Configuration and Solution Explorer.
In the configuration you must put Master
:
And in the browser you should reproduce the following procedure: RMB on (in my case) New Unity Project (Universal Windows) -> Store -> Create application packages
:
Either: Project -> Store -> Create application packages
:
After which the following window should appear:
In it you need to leave everything as is (i.e. click on “Yes”) and move on by clicking “Next”.
You will then be prompted to select or reserve an application name. If you already have it reserved, select it and click “Next”:
If not, then simply enter the name in the appropriate window and click “Reserve”:
After this, the list will automatically update and you will see the name of your application there.
Next you will be offered a choice of settings. The main thing is to make sure once again that each configuration has Master, and everything else can be left as is and click “Create”. Assembly may take some time, so don't worry.
Next you need to make a choice. Or run the certification kit and see if your game will be accepted into the Microsoft Store. Or try sending it directly to the Microsoft Store. But the choice here is relative, because if your game cannot pass certification, then it will not be allowed to be published. The only difference is time. You can either spend a few minutes on certification, or up to three days (that’s how long it takes to publish a product with all the checks).
If you decide to launch the certification set, after a couple of seconds you will see the following window:
In it you just need to click “Next”, after which the certification process will begin. Once the check is completed, you will see the result. If everything goes well, there will be a nice green “Passed” inscription: uh
If you see “Failed,” then don’t be upset—this happens. Just click “Click here to view results” and find the items with which you are having difficulty, then either solve the problems yourself or use help in thematic communities.
For example, in this case, the check failed because I chose Release instead of Master during the build, which prevented the API check from passing.
Stage 2. Store
Once the certification kit verification is complete, you should navigate to the APPXUPLOAD.
This file must be sent to the store. To do this, we must go to the Development Center to the "Overview" page and click "Start submitting":
After this, the sending page will open and you will need to click “ Start sending”
«.
“Dispatch 1” will be generated. To send to the store, you must ensure that the first 5 items are “Completed”.
In order not to make the article too long, I will briefly describe some points:
«Prices and Availability
” - This basically involves choosing markets (countries where the game is available), prices, publication dates, and creating a trial (example: free trial with an expiration date).
«Properties
» - category and subcategory of the game, system requirements, parameters, etc.
“ Age categories
” is a short test questionnaire from the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) to determine the age category of a game. Also, if the game you want to publish in the Microsoft Store has already been published by you on another site and received an International Age Rating Coalition, then you can use rating import. The test itself consists of several questions, which boils down to choosing “Yes” or “No”.
After passing the test, you will be presented with ratings (ESRB, PEGI, RSVR and others).
«Packages
"- in this section it’s time to remember the prepared APPXUPLOAD file and upload it.
Once the download is complete, the available platforms will be listed on the same page. Since I decided to release the project only on PCs with Windows 10, I unchecked the following boxes:
«Descriptions in the Store
“—you’ll have to tinker with this a little. I will quote additional information from this section:
“Provide the text and images that customers will see in the Store description in each supported language. You can enter this information individually, or export a CSV file with all the description data, edit it, and import it to enter all the new information in one go."
.
In my first publication, I decided to create a description via a CSV file. In this article I will describe a simpler, but slightly more boring method. If someone also wants to do it via a CSV file, then check out this article.
Click on “ Add/remove languages”
«.
After that, click on “ Manage additional languages”
«.
And we select the languages of interest for description.
After that click " Save"
" and return to the "Submit 1" page. In the “Descriptions in the Store” section, in my case, two languages are visible - English, which the system automatically detected at the stage of downloading packages, and Russian, which I chose myself. When you finish filling out the description, it will change to “Completed”:
To add a description, you need to click on the selected language and fill out all the information on the page (in the case of Russian in Russian, English in English, etc.)
In the end, everything should look something like this:
«Certification Note
» - Information for testers to help testers use and understand the submission. For example, the name and password for a test account, actions to access hidden or blocked functions, etc. This item is optional, not mandatory.
Now all you have to do is click on “ Submit to Store”
“, after which the hours of waiting for publication will begin.
Upon completion, the status is “ Certification process”
» in the app overview
will change to pleasant « Placement in the Store
“, which will mean your publishing journey is finally over!
In the future, if you want to change something in your game, you will only have to click “ Update”
" next to submit in the app overview.
Social networks and communication
Client for the most famous social network. It's user-friendly, looks good, and is arguably simpler than the cluttered web version.
Developer
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
Messenger
Another application for Facebook users. It is aimed at those who just want to communicate with friends in chats, and not scroll through an endless feed with advertisements and stupid posts. An important advantage of Messenger is that it can receive messages while minimized to the taskbar. So you no longer need to keep your social media tab open to stay in touch.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9wzdncrf0083
The official Twitter client, which will allow you to forget about the web version. All your tweets and subscriptions will be collected in one window. The client will notify you when they mention you in tweets or send you messages, so you can simply minimize it and open it only when needed.
Twitter
Developer
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
Tweet
An alternative to the official Twitter client, superior in convenience and functionality. Tweeten can handle multiple accounts, can schedule tweets to be published at the right time, and has a built-in tool for finding and saving GIFs.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9nblggh52xbx
In contact with
Client for the most popular Russian social network. Feed, messages, music, video and other features are available. Install and forget about the web version of the site.
In contact with
"V Kontakte" Ltd.
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
Telegram Desktop
Our favorite cross-platform messenger with superhuman speed, synchronization, GIFs, encryption and other goodies.
Telegram Desktop
Developer
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
WhatsApp Desktop
The most popular messenger in the world, which even your granny uses. It is, of course, somewhat inferior to Telegram, but almost everyone has it. This means you will have to install it too.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9nksqgp7f2nh
Productivity
Evernote
A popular note-taking tool that synchronizes your notes between a bunch of platforms. Evernote can be used to store text, audio, web pages, and pictures, and integrates with other Windows 10 apps like Outlook and Slack.
Evernote
Evernote Corporation
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
OneNote
For those who don't like Evernote because it's greedy and slow, OneNote can help. An excellent note-taking application from Microsoft that can do almost everything - text, handwriting, drawings, and audio recordings.
OneNote for Windows 10
Developer
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
Code Writer
A free text and code editor that supports more than two dozen different syntaxes, which will be useful to developers. It has code highlighting, a built-in project manager, a convenient tool menu, and cloud integration to save your files.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9wzdncrfhzdt
Wunderlist
Popular task manager. Allows you to keep all your affairs under control. Those who like to make long to-do lists and then check off completed tasks will be delighted with Wunderlist.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9wzdncrdfxzs
Trello
A cooler task manager. Trello will help you collaborate with colleagues and manage projects for the whole team. Organize lists of comment cards, notes, and to-do lists, delegate tasks, and set deadlines through a user-friendly interface.
Trello
Developer
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
Utilities
Translator
Google Translator is good, but it's not the only translator in the world. There is also a native Translator from Microsoft. It not only translates both text and speech, but also works offline.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9wzdncrfj3pg
File Browser
A good replacement for the standard Windows Explorer, which supports all necessary operations with files. For example, with File Browser you can pin necessary folders directly to the Start menu and share their contents with other applications.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9wzdncrfj29m
Xodo PDF Reader
A high-quality and absolutely free PDF reader. There are a lot of useful functions here - notes right in the margins of the document, night mode, bookmarks, and comments.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9wzdncrdjxp4
freda
An advanced e-book reader for Windows 10. Can display them in EPUB, MOBI, FB2, HTML and TXT formats. Bookmarks, night mode, synchronization with OneDrive, Dropbox and Caliber are available.
Freda epub ebook reader
Developer
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
Speedtest by Okla
A useful program for those who need to know exactly the speed of their Internet. Click on the button, wait a few seconds and see the exact details of your connection.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9nblggh4z1jc
Clearing windows store cache cache
The simplest solution is to reset the Windows 10 Store cache, which over time can become cluttered with all sorts of files.
- Press the Win+R and enter wsreset .
- The command prompt will open, wait until it closes itself and automatically launches the windows 10 store. (I waited about 2 minutes)
- Open your store to check its functionality, if the windows store does not work, then move on.
Image editors
Fotor
Not a bad photo editor. Not Photoshop, of course, but suitable for basic operations with images. Contains a set of visual effects, can create collages and works with RAW files.
Fotor
Chengdu Everimaging Science and Technology Co Ltd
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
Adobe Photoshop Express
This is a simpler and lighter version of Photoshop. Express works well with Windows 10 tablets and can be used to edit photos on the go. There is cropping, rotating and flipping images, adjusting brightness, exposure and contrast. And if you have Adobe ID installed, you can connect additional plugins to the program.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9wzdncrfj27n
Fresh Paint
A simple drawing application that is especially suitable for owners of devices with styluses. In it you can draw both simple caricatures and comics, as well as beautiful still lifes and landscapes.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9wzdncrfjb13
Gallery HD
A photo viewer that can display the images on your drive as a slideshow or in a nice gallery. An excellent option to replace the standard analogue in Windows 10.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9wzdncrfjchh
Reasons for self-installation
As mentioned above, the store is one of the pre-installed components, but in some cases, due to an incorrect or interrupted installation of Windows, it may not be loaded onto the computer. Another reason could be popular amateur builds on the Internet. Even at its launch, Windows 10 acquired a reputation as a program with a large number of tracking and useless modules, which enthusiasts subsequently began to cut out. One of these modules was the company’s company store, which was removed due to low popularity and the collection of information about the programs used by the user.
On the other hand, active users know that the store sells and distributes applications that can only work using this service. New games developed by the company are also distributed only through the company store. You will need it even if the game has been hacked and a pirated version has been downloaded.
Music
TuneIn Radio
This application for Windows 10 from the famous TuneIn service allows you to conveniently listen to music from many radio stations around the world. In addition, here you will find mixes, podcasts, news and live sports broadcasts.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9wzdncrfj3sf
Musixmatch Lyrics
Musixmatch is a cross-platform application that can detect and recognize the music being played, search for song lyrics, play the contents of your music library, and download audio metadata from the Internet. For example, words or album covers.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9wzdncrfj235
8 Music Cloud
Client for the cool music service SoundCloud. Listen to music, search for new artists, mark tracks as favorites, and see which songs are trending most often.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9nblggh4qrs4
iTunes
The famous music player from Apple. iTunes helps you organize your music collection, supports smart playlists, and gives you access to the Apple Music streaming service.
iTunes
Developer
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
Deezer
Spotify doesn't work in Russia (or rather, it works, but with some extra steps)? It doesn’t matter, because there’s Deezer. This music service has a ton of songs and performers to suit every taste.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9nblggh6j7vv
Installing Microsoft Store on Windows 10
PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-AppxPackage *windowsstore* -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppxManifest.xml"} PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Select Name, PackageFullName
Name PackageFullName —- ————— 1527c705-839a-4832-9118-54d4Bd6a0c89 1527c705-839a-4832-9118-54d4Bd6a0c89_10.0.17763.1_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h… c5e252 4a-ea46-4f67-841f-6a9465d9d515 c5e2524a-ea46-4f67-841f-6a9465d9d515_10 .0.17763.1_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h… E2A4F912-2574-4A75-9BB0-0D023378592B E2A4F912-2574-4A75-9BB0-0D023378592B_10.0.17763.1_neutral_neutral_cw5n1 h... F46D4000-FD22-4DB4-AC8E-4E1DDDE828FE F46D4000-FD22-4DB4-AC8E-4E1DDDE828FE_10.0.17763.1_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h … InputApp InputApp_1000.17763.1.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_1000.17763.1.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy Microsoft.AccountsControl Microsoft.AccountsControl_10.0.1 7763.1_neutral__cw5n1h2txyewy Microsoft.AsyncTextService Microsoft.AsyncTextService_10.0.17763.1_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe Microsoft.BioEnrollment Microsoft.BioEnrollment_10.0.17763. 1_neutral__cw5n1h2txyewy Microsoft.CredDialogHost Microsoft.CredDialogHost_10.0.17763.1_neutral__cw5n1h2txyewy Microsoft.ECApp Microsoft.ECApp_10.0.17763.1_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe Microsoft.LockApp Microsoft.LockApp_10.0.17763. 1_neutral__cw5n1h2txyewy Microsoft.Win32WebViewHost Microsoft.Win32WebViewHost_10.0.17763.1_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy Microsoft.Windows.Apprep.ChxApp Microsoft. Windows.Apprep.ChxApp_1000.17763.1.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2tx… Microsoft.Windows.AssignedAccessLockApp Microsoft.Windows.AssignedAccessLockApp_1000.17763.1.0_neutral_neutral_c… Microsoft.Windows.CapturePicker Microsoft.Windows.C apturePicker_10.0.17763.1_neutral__cw5n1h2txyewy Microsoft.Windows.CloudExperienceHost Microsoft.Windows.CloudExperienceHost_10. 0.17763.1_neutral_neutral_cw5n1… Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_10.0.17763.1_neutral_neutral_cw… Microsoft.Windows.NarratorQuickStart Microsoft.Windows.NarratorQuickStart_10.0.17763. 1_neutral_neutral_8wekyb… Microsoft.Windows.OOBENetworkCaptivePortal Microsoft.Windows.OOBENetworkCaptivePortal_10.0.17763.1_neutral__cw5n1h2… Microsoft .Windows.OOBENetworkConnectionFlow Microsoft.Windows.OOBENetworkConnectionFlow_10.0.17763.1_neutral__cw5n1h… Microsoft.Windows.ParentalControls Microsoft.Windows.ParentalControls_1000.17763.1.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h… Microsoft.Window s.PeopleExperienceHost Microsoft.Windows.PeopleExperienceHost_10.0.17763.1_neutral_neutral_cw5n… Microsoft.Windows.PinningConfirmationDialog Microsoft .Windows.PinningConfirmationDialog_1000.17763.1.0_neutral__cw5n… Microsoft.Windows.SecHealthUI Microsoft.Windows.SecHealthUI_10.0.17763.1_neutral__cw5n1h2txyewy Microsoft.Windows.ShellExperienceHost Microsoft.Windows.ShellExperienceH ost_10.0.17763.1_neutral_neutral_cw5n1… Microsoft.Windows.XGpuEjectDialog Microsoft.Windows.XGpuEjectDialog_10.0.17763 .1_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2tx… Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.17763.1.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy Windows.CBSPreview Windows.CBSPreview_10.0.17763.1_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy windows. immersivecontrolpanel windows.immersivecontrolpanel_10.0.2.1000_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy Windows.PrintDialog Windows.PrintDialog_6.2.1.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy Microsoft.MicrosoftEdgeDevToolsClient Microsoft.MicrosoftEdgeDevToolsClient_10 00. 17763.348.0_neutral_neutral_8… Microsoft.Windows.Cortana Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_1.11.6.17763_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy Microsoft.LanguageExperiencePackuk-UA Microsoft.LanguageExperiencePackuk-UA_17763.11.26.0_neut ral__8wekyb3d8bbwe Microsoft.LanguageExperiencePackru-RU Microsoft.LanguageExperiencePackru-RU_17763.18.49.0_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe
PS C:\Windows\system32> Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "C:\Program Files\WindowsAPPS\COPIED_NAME\AppxManifest.xml" Add-AppxPackage : Cannot find path "C:\Program Files\WindowsAPPS\COPIED_NAME\AppxManifest" .xml" because it does not exist. line:1 character:1 + Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “C:\Program Files\W ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (C :\Program File…ppxManifest.xml:String) [Add-AppxPackage], ItemNotFou ndException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand
Video
VLC
A chic universal media player that can open, it seems, a file in almost any format.
The version from the Microsoft Store is lighter than its older brother and uses your device's battery a little more economically. Supports video and audio playback (even in FLAC format) and allows you to conveniently manage your media library.
VLC UWP
Developer
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
Kodi
A free cross-platform program for organizing your own media center. This application displays your existing movies, music and images in a convenient and beautiful interface that is specially designed for remote control on large screens.
Kodi
XBMC Foundation
Price: Free
Download
Price: Free
Plex
A popular alternative to Kodi, which is in no way inferior to it. Plex can show videos, photos, play podcasts and music from the Web or from your own media.
appbox fallback https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/store/p/app/9wzdncrfj3q8
