Xbox Game Bar Widget Store

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Xbox Game Bar includes a Widget Store that allows users to discover, install and remove widget applications. Each widget application can contain 1 or more widgets, as well as optional desktop applications.

Browsing for Widgets

The Widget store includes a Browse tab, it allows users to discover new widgets. If you've published your widget application through the Microsoft Store it can show up in the Game Bar Widget store. Any UWP application that supports the Game Bar UI Extension is automatically included.

In the future we intend improve the store to allow for customized searches, categories, and more.

Publishing to the Widget Store

Publishing to the Widget Store is no different from publishing other UWP apps to the Microsoft Store. Please follow the Microsoft Store developer guidance

What functionality does the Widget Store provide

Any installed Game Bar widget application will show in the Installed tab of the Widget Store. From there the user can view the version number of the application, uninstall the application. If the application was published through the Microsoft Store the user can also view the product detail page, and in cases where a newer version is available they can update the application directly through Game Bar.

FAQ

If I haven't published my widget, can a user still install it

Yes, if you publish your widget application through the Microsoft Store users can still use the Microsoft Store desktop app or Windows Store web site to search, find and install your widget application. We've only limited what shows inside of the Game Bar store.

Additionally if you have your own distribution mechanism users can side load the widget application. We recommend this for developing and testing, but not for wide scale distribution.

If I haven't published my widget, can a user still manage it from within Game Bar

Game Bar and the Widget Store will recognize any locally installed widget application and show it in the Widget Menu and the Widget Store Installed tab. Users can view the application version, and uninstall the application, but will not be able to view product details or updates as the product information comes directly from the Microsoft Store web service.