We’re excited to announce that Home windows App SDK 1.2 is now out there! With WinAppSDK 1.2 now you can create widgets for the Home windows 11 widget board, use probably the most fashionable WinUI controls – together with media playback & InfoBadge, and help HDR graphics by means of the DisplayInformation APIs amongst different extra options. We’ve additionally made a number of updates to enhance platform reliability, stability, and efficiency that will help you create sturdy, highly effective, purposes for Home windows.
Home windows App SDK supplies a unified set of APIs and instruments that will help you construct stunning & highly effective Home windows desktop apps. These APIs and instruments can be utilized in a constant means by any C++ Win32 or C# .NET app on a broad set of goal Home windows OS variations. WinAppSDK stays updated with frequent, OS impartial releases and helps the newest improvements in Home windows app improvement – together with .NET & Visible Studio.
Get began with Home windows App SDK
To begin utilizing Home windows App SDK, see Get began with Home windows App SDK to arrange your improvement setting and study extra concerning the parts included on this launch. If you wish to leap proper in with constructing your first WinUI 3 desktop app, begin with our tutorial or watch our Study Dwell session launched at Construct 2022.
Performance launched in Home windows App SDK 1.2
Widgets for third-party purposes
With the launch of Home windows 11, we launched the widgets board that includes content material curated by Home windows. Widgets present a glanceable view of essential info with one contact entry from the taskbar or swipe from the left aspect of a contact display screen and are populated by apps at the moment put in on the machine. Now with the launch of Home windows App SDK 1.2, we’re excited to make this performance out there for third-party builders to create widgets for his or her packaged Win32 apps and check them domestically on the Home windows 11 widgets board by means of our Home windows Insider Program. By creating widgets in your apps, your clients can simply and seamlessly keep updated with info that issues to them.
To get began growing Widgets in your app, try the Widgets improvement docs and Widgets design fundamentals for stipulations, steering and greatest practices.
Newest WinUI controls together with media playback
WinUI 3 apps can play audio and video with the MediaPlayerElement and MediaTransportControls media playback controls. For more information on how and when to make use of media controls, see Media gamers.
WinUI 3 has been up to date with the newest controls, kinds, and behaviors from WinUI 2.8. These updates embrace the addition of the InfoBadge management, enhancements to accessibility and excessive distinction mode, in addition to bug fixes throughout controls. For extra particulars, see the discharge notes for WinUI 2.7 and WinUI 2.8.
Voice and video calling in WinUI 3 apps through Azure Communication Companies (ACS)
Now you can add voice and video calling capabilities to your WinUI 3 purposes that run on Home windows, enabling wealthy communication experiences for desktop PCs. Azure Communication Companies use the identical infrastructure, companies, and applied sciences that energy Microsoft Groups calling experiences.
Take a look at our conceptual documentation overview and check out fast begins and samples:
DisplayInformation
Home windows desktop apps can now help Excessive Dynamic Vary (HDR) and Auto Shade Administration (ACM) by means of the DisplayInformation class in WinAppSDK. This API is simpler to make use of than ever earlier than for Win32 apps, and app builders can now use one API to focus on Home windows model 1809 and later. The DisplayInformation class lets you monitor display-related info for an utility view. This contains occasions to permit shoppers to observe for adjustments within the utility view affecting which show(s) the view resides on, in addition to adjustments in shows that may have an effect on the appliance view.
Assist for Visible Studio Arm64
As early as Undertaking Reunion (now WinAppSDK) 0.5, apps developed with WinAppSDK had been capable of run on Arm64. Beginning with Visible Studio 17.3 Preview 2, it is possible for you to to natively develop purposes with WinAppSDK on Arm64 units.
To get began growing on an Arm64 machine, try our docs detailing Home windows on Arm and Arm64 Visible Studio.
Trimming for .NET apps
You at the moment are capable of publish your .NET WinAppSDK apps trimmed. With CsWinRT 2.0, the C#/WinRT projections distributed within the WinAppSDK are trimmable. Publishing your app trimmed can cut back the disk footprint of your app by eradicating any unused code from trimmable binaries. Your app might also see a startup efficiency enchancment. With a fundamental Good day World app, we have now seen a ~80% disk footprint enchancment and a ~7% startup efficiency enchancment when printed trimmed. With WinUI gallery, we have now seen a ~45% disk footprint enchancment.
For extra particulars on how one can allow trimming, trimming limitations (reminiscent of reflection in opposition to trimmable sorts), and trim warnings, see Trim self-contained deployments and executables.
Dynamic Refresh Price
Launched in Home windows 11, Dynamic Refresh Price (DRR) permits units to seamlessly swap between a decrease refresh price and a better refresh price based mostly on what customers are doing on their PC. This helps to steadiness efficiency and energy consumption. As a part of WinUI 3 in Home windows App SDK 1.2, Microsoft.UI.Composition will now help Dynamic Refresh Price on units that opt-in to the function. Notably, by means of supporting DRR, units operating Home windows 22H2 will mechanically have smoother scrolling and interactions in your app with out another adjustments.
To study extra about the way to greatest help Dynamic Refresh Price in your app, try our Dynamic Refresh Price Instrument (constructed on WinAppSDK 1.1) which reveals the way to use the Compositor Clock API and help SwapChains.
AppNotificationBuilder
In Home windows App SDK 1.1, we launched the flexibility to create and ship notifications out of your utility or a cloud service. App notifications can be utilized to tell the consumer of utility standing or state adjustments, or to immediate the consumer to take motion with participating and wealthy UI.
With WinAppSDK 1.2, we’re introducing the AppNotificationBuilder, an alternative choice to XML payload to simplify creating and defining these notifications. To get began utilizing the AppNotificationBuilder to create app notifications, try the AppNotificationBuilder spec on GitHub. Additionally see Quickstart: App notifications within the Home windows App SDK for an instance of the way to create a desktop Home windows utility that sends and receives native app notifications.
Further updates
Outdoors of the brand new performance launched in WinAppSDK 1.2, there are additionally a number of efficiency, reliability, and improvement expertise enhancements. Of observe, the WinAppSDK 1.2 binary on x64 is 11% smaller than WinAppSDK 1.1.5.
Take a look at the launch notes for the total record of mounted points and updates in WinAppSDK 1.2.
Upcoming experiences on WinAppSDK
We’re working with a number of improvement companions inner and exterior to Microsoft who’re migrating their experiences to WinUI 3 and Home windows App SDK. Keep tuned on our social channels for extra details about these partnerships.
Staying within the loop
You’ll be able to keep updated with the workforce on the Home windows App SDK GitHub repo and the WinUI GitHub repo, and thru our month-to-month WinUI Neighborhood Calls the place we share roadmap updates and different thrilling information, and we demo new options.
It’s also possible to join with us on Twitter utilizing #WindowsAppSDK and @WindowsUI.
We stay up for seeing the gorgeous apps you create with WinAppSDK 1.2 & WinUI 3!
Completely satisfied Coding!
Home windows App SDK workforce
