Windows App SDK

12th March 2023, Updated 13th March 2023

Windows App SDK represents the next evolution for the Windows application development platform, it provides a unified set of APIs along with tools that can be used by any desktop app on Windows 11 and can even down-level to Windows 10, Version 1809.

Windows App SDK has access to a wide range of Windows APIs and any implementations that are decoupled from Windows itself are released as NuGet packages to developers, also the Windows App SDK itself is updated on a regular basis to add more functionality along with work to remove distinctions between the different application models used for native Windows desktop development.

Windows App SDK evolved from the idea to combine native Win32 development along with its predecessor, Universal Windows Platform, which was known as Project Reunion. It ships with which is the native UI component that contains the modern controls and styles for building applications on Windows and is also a target for other development platforms on Windows such as .NET MAUI and React Native on Windows or you can even bring Windows App SDK applications cross-platform with Uno Platform, you can find out more about Uno Platform from another Article.

Windows App SDK provides the ability for developers to take advantage of the latest features of Windows as they become available and then supported by Windows App SDK such as developing Windows 11 Widgets, which are based on Adaptive Cards, which provide new ways for users to interact with your application and allow applications to display or update information in the Widgets Dashboard in Windows 11.

Windows App SDK also allows .NET developers to create native applications for the latest version of Windows and you can start today by following the Windows App SDK tutorials on tutorialr.com which has dozens to go through from getting setup to building some examples including games such as tic-tac-toe, a flag guessing game and more plus many more examples to be added in the future.

Windows App SDK is the platform for developing modern native applications on Windows with many features of Windows itself which take advantage of it, including a newly updated File Explorer along with third-party applications such as the new Apple Podcasts application for Windows. If you would like to hear more and find out the history of developing applications on Windows, you can listen to the RoguePlanetoid.com Podcast episode about Windows App SDK.