How to Publish winui 3 app to store?

Question

Hi, i have a developer account and currently i published 2 apps into ms store, however i have some questions:

1.how should i publish my app into store? Self-Contained? or framework-dependent?

i published as Self-Contained and every msix file size is almost 80~100 mb which is a lot!

I have a little concern:

Does the app install and run well?

Are prerequisites such as .NET, VC and Windows App SDK runtimes installed automatically?

Which method of publishing is suitable for the store?

2.It seems that Visual Studio cannot generate bundle output due to some bugs, i generated a bundle manually with this cmd command:

MakeAppX.exe bundle /p out.msixbundle /d "M:\source"

question is:

Do I need to sign this file before uploading it to the store with TemporaryStoreCertificate?

3.I want to put the msix file on the site or other places directly for download, but I need a cert file. I found out that after uploading the msix file to the store, it is signed by MS during the app release process. Is there a way that I can do it myself? When using the associate with app store option in VS, only a temporary cert file is received and not a real cert file for signing.

4.What is the correct and basic step-by-step process of publishing an winui app in the MS Store?

This is how I currently publish my app:

A- Reserve a name on the ms partner site

B- Right Click on Project--> Package and Publish--> Assosiate app with store (Next, Next and Obtain a temporary cert)

C- Right Click on Project--> Package and Publish--> Create app Packages

here we have 3 options, i choose Sideloading then i choose temporary cert and i generate seperate msix files (bundle option is not working)

D- i upload msix files one by one into ms partner site for publishing...

I would be very grateful if someone could guide me

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

1. It depends on yourself. But you need to note, if you package it as framework-dependent, user will need to manually install the Windows App SDK runtime and/or Framework package. You could check Windows App SDK deployment overview for more details about the difference between framework-dependent and Self-contained.
2. This should be a VS question and you might need to report via the VS channel.
3. If you want to distribute your app via sideload package, a trusted certification is needed. You could use your own certificate which needs to be imported into the machine manually by user. Or you could buy a third-party trusted certificate for your scenario.
4. I noticed that you said that you've published two apps already. The process should be the same. Associate the app and create the package under that associated app name. Then you could upload the package to corresponding app submission.

Thank you.

---

If the answer is the right solution, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.