Account authentication and access overview
Use this topic to authenticate and access accounts, use the Xbox Authentication Library (XAL), and use XUser API contents.
The Xbox client manages the identity of the users who are interacting with your game by using an XUserHandle object. Each XUserHandle instance represents a user who's signed into your game.
For more information about how to connect a user to Xbox services, see the code example in How to: best practice to sign in a user.
Xbox app on Windows PC
For Windows PC development, you can use the Xbox app to access Xbox services by using a test account in a development sandbox. Use the following steps to access a test account from a development sandbox.
- Download and install the Xbox app from the Microsoft Store.
- Switch to the development sandbox for your game. You can switch the development sandbox on Windows PC by using the PC Sandbox Switcher tool.
- Open the Xbox app.
- Select the profile icon, and then select Sign in.
- Follow the instructions to access the account.
To sign out of the account, open the Xbox app, and then select the profile icon > Sign out.
XAL and XUser
XAL and XUser are similar APIs. XAL is provided to support cross-platform games.
Note
If you're targeting cross-platform (mobile and the GDK), use XAL. If you're only targeting the GDK, use XUserHandle instead.