Latest experimental channel release notes for the Windows App SDK

Important

The experimental channel is not supported for use in production environments, and apps that use the experimental releases cannot be published to the Microsoft Store.

The experimental channel includes releases of the Windows App SDK with experimental channel features in early stages of development. APIs for experimental features have the Experimental attribute. If you call an experimental API in your code, you will receive a build-time warning. All APIs in the experimental channel are subject to extensive revisions and breaking changes. Experimental features and APIs may be removed from subsequent releases at any time.

Important links:

Experimental channel release note archive:

Version 1.6 Experimental (1.6.0-experimental2)

This is the latest release of the experimental channel.

To download, retarget your WinAppSDK NuGet version to 1.6.240701003-experimental2.

Note

Phi Silica and OCR APIs are not included in this release. These will be coming in a future 1.6 release.

Native AOT support updates

In 1.6-experimental1, the XAML compiler was generating XamlTypeInfo.g.cs with code that wasn’t safe for AOT/Trimming. This relates to GitHub issue #9675, though it does not fully fix that issue.

Changed Edge WebView2 SDK Integration

The Windows App SDK now consumes the Edge WebView2 SDK as a NuGet reference rather than embedding a hardcoded version of the Edge WebView2 SDK. The new model allows apps to choose a newer version of the Microsoft.Web.WebView2 package instead of being limited to the version with which the Windows App SDK was built. The new model also allows apps to reference NuGet packages which also reference the Edge WebView2 SDK. For more info, see GitHub issue #5689.

New Package Deployment APIs

The Package Management API has received several enhancements including Is*ReadyOrNewerAvailable*(), EnsureReadyOptions.RegisterNewerIfAvailable, Is*Provisioned*(), IsPackageRegistrationPending(), and several bug fixes. See PackageManagement.md and Pull Request #4453 for more details.

Other notable changes

  • Starting with 1.6-experimental2, the latest WinUI 3 source will now publish to the main branch in the microsoft-ui-xaml GitHub repo, which will enable source searching in that repo.
  • We added a new ColorHelper.ToDisplayName() API, filling that gap from UWP.
    • Known issue: Some language translations have character encoding issues. This will be fixed in the next 1.6 release.
  • Added a new Microsoft.Windows.Globalization.ApplicationLanguages class, which notably includes a new PrimaryLanguageOverride feature. For more info, see GitHub issue #4523.
  • New extensions enable Widget Providers to provide Widgets with web content and announcements for Widgets.

New APIs for 1.6-experimental2

1.6-experimental2 includes the following new APIs. These APIs are not experimental, but are not yet included in a stable release version of the WinAppSDK.

Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls

    PipsPager
        WrapMode
        WrapModeProperty

    PipsPagerWrapMode
Microsoft.Windows.Globalization

    ApplicationLanguages
Microsoft.Windows.Management.Deployment

    EnsureReadyOptions
        RegisterNewerIfAvailable

    PackageDeploymentFeature
    PackageDeploymentManager
        IsPackageDeploymentFeatureSupported
        IsPackageProvisioned
        IsPackageProvisionedByUri
        IsPackageReadyOrNewerAvailable
        IsPackageReadyOrNewerAvailableByUri
        IsPackageSetProvisioned
        IsPackageSetReadyOrNewerAvailable

    PackageReadyOrNewerAvailableStatus

Additional 1.6-experimental1 APIs

This release includes the following new and modified experimental APIs:

Microsoft.UI

    ColorHelper
        ToDisplayName
Microsoft.UI.Composition

    CompositionNotificationDeferral
Microsoft.UI.Composition.Experimental

    ExpCompositionVisualSurface
    ExpExpressionNotificationProperty
    IExpCompositionPropertyChanged
    IExpCompositionPropertyChangedListener
    IExpCompositor
    IExpVisual
Microsoft.UI.Content

    AutomationOptions
    ChildContentLink
    ContentAppWindowBridge
    ContentDisplayOrientations
    ContentExternalBackdropLink
    ContentExternalOutputLink
    ContentIsland
        Children
        Compositor
        Connected
        ConnectionInfo
        ConnectRemoteEndpoint
        Create
        Disconnected
        FindAllForCompositor
        FragmentRootAutomationProvider
        GetByVisual
        IsRemoteEndpointConnected
        NextSiblingAutomationProvider
        Offset
        ParentAutomationProvider
        PreviousSiblingAutomationProvider
        Root
        RotationAngleInDegrees

    ContentIslandEnvironment
        AutomationOption
        CurrentOrientation
        DisplayScale
        NativeOrientation
        ThemeChanged

    ContentSite
        Compositor
        Offset
        RotationAngleInDegrees
        SetContentNodeParent
        SetIsInputPassThrough
        SiteVisual
        TryGetAutomationProvider

    ContentSiteAutomationProviderRequestedEventArgs
    ContentSiteEnvironment
        CurrentOrientation
        DisplayScale
        NativeOrientation
        NotifyThemeChanged

    ContentSiteView
        Offset
        RotationAngleInDegrees

    CoreWindowSiteBridge
    CoreWindowTopLevelWindowBridge
    DesktopChildSiteBridge
        AcceptRemoteEndpoint
        ConnectionInfo
        IsRemoteEndpointConnected
        RemoteEndpointConnecting
        RemoteEndpointDisconnected
        RemoteEndpointRequestedStateChanged

    DesktopSiteBridge
        TryCreatePopupSiteBridge

    EndpointConnectionEventArgs
    EndpointRequestedStateChangedEventArgs
    IContentIslandEndpointConnectionPrivate
    IContentLink
    IContentNodeOwner
    IContentSiteBridge2
    IContentSiteBridgeAutomation
    IContentSiteBridgeEndpointConnectionPrivate
    PopupWindowSiteBridge
    ProcessStarter
    ReadOnlyDesktopSiteBridge
    SystemVisualSiteBridge
Microsoft.UI.Input

    EnteredMoveSizeEventArgs
    EnteringMoveSizeEventArgs
    ExitedMoveSizeEventArgs
    InputKeyboardSource
        GetForWindowId

    InputLayoutPolicy
    InputLightDismissAction
        GetForIsland

    InputNonClientPointerSource
        EnteredMoveSize
        EnteringMoveSize
        ExitedMoveSize
        WindowRectChanged
        WindowRectChanging

    InputPointerActivationBehavior
    InputPointerSource
        ActivationBehavior
        DirectManipulationHitTest
        GetForVisual
        GetForWindowId
        RemoveForVisual
        TouchHitTesting
        TrySetDeviceKinds

    MoveSizeOperation
    ProximityEvaluation
    TouchHitTestingEventArgs
    WindowRectChangedEventArgs
    WindowRectChangingEventArgs
Microsoft.UI.Input.Experimental

    ExpInputSite
    ExpPointerPoint
Microsoft.UI.Windowing

    AppWindow
        DefaultTitleBarShouldMatchAppModeTheme

    DisplayArea
        GetMetricsFromWindowId
Microsoft.UI.Xaml

    XamlIsland
    XamlRoot
        CoordinateConverter
        TryGetContentIsland
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Automation.Peers

    PagerControlAutomationPeer
    ScrollPresenterAutomationPeer
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls

    ContentDialogPlacement
        UnconstrainedPopup

    ElementFactory
    FlowLayout
    FlowLayoutAnchorInfo
    FlowLayoutLineAlignment
    FlowLayoutState
    IApplicationViewSpanningRects
    IndexPath
    ISelfPlayingAnimatedVisual
    ItemContainer
        CanUserInvoke
        CanUserInvokeProperty
        CanUserSelect
        CanUserSelectProperty
        ItemInvoked
        MultiSelectMode
        MultiSelectModeProperty

    ItemContainerInteractionTrigger
    ItemContainerInvokedEventArgs
    ItemContainerMultiSelectMode
    ItemContainerUserInvokeMode
    ItemContainerUserSelectMode
    LayoutPanel
    NumberBox
        InputScope
        InputScopeProperty
        TextAlignment
        TextAlignmentProperty

    PagerControl
    PagerControlButtonVisibility
    PagerControlDisplayMode
    PagerControlSelectedIndexChangedEventArgs
    PagerControlTemplateSettings
    ProgressRing
        DeterminateSource
        DeterminateSourceProperty
        IndeterminateSource
        IndeterminateSourceProperty

    RecyclePool
    RecyclingElementFactory
    ScrollingViewChangingEventArgs
    ScrollView
        ViewChanging

    SelectionModel
    SelectionModelChildrenRequestedEventArgs
    SelectionModelSelectionChangedEventArgs
    SelectTemplateEventArgs
    StackLayout
        IsVirtualizationEnabled
        IsVirtualizationEnabledProperty

    StackLayoutState
    TabView
        CanTearOutTabs
        CanTearOutTabsProperty
        ExternalTornOutTabsDropped
        ExternalTornOutTabsDropping
        TabTearOutRequested
        TabTearOutWindowRequested

    TabViewExternalTornOutTabsDroppedEventArgs
    TabViewExternalTornOutTabsDroppingEventArgs
    TabViewTabTearOutRequestedEventArgs
    TabViewTabTearOutWindowRequestedEventArgs
    TitleBar
    TitleBarAutomationPeer
    TitleBarTemplateSettings
    UniformGridLayoutState
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls.Primitives

    ScrollPresenter
        ViewChanging
Microsoft.Windows.ApplicationModel.WindowsAppRuntime

    DeploymentManager
        Repair

    DeploymentStatus
        PackageRepairFailed

    ReleaseInfo
    RuntimeInfo
    VersionInfoContract
Microsoft.Windows.Widgets.Feeds.Providers

    FeedManager
        TryRemoveAnnouncementById

    IFeedManager3
Microsoft.Windows.Widgets.Notifications

    WidgetAnnouncement
    WidgetAnnouncementInvokedArgs
Microsoft.Windows.Widgets.Providers

    IWidgetAnnouncementInvokedTarget
    IWidgetManager2
    IWidgetManager3
    IWidgetProviderMessage
    IWidgetResourceProvider
    WidgetManager
        SendMessageToContent
        TryRemoveAnnouncementById
        TryShowAnnouncement

    WidgetMessageReceivedArgs
    WidgetResourceRequest
    WidgetResourceRequestedArgs
    WidgetResourceResponse

Known issues

  • For TabView tab tear-out, pointer input behavior for CanTearOutTabs is incorrect on monitors with scale factor different from 100%. This will be fixed in the next 1.6 release.

Bug fixes

  • Fixed an issue from 1.6-experimental1 where NumberBox wasn't using the correct foreground and background colors. For more info, see GitHub issue #9714.
  • Fixed an issue where duplicate KeyUp events were raised for arrow and tab keys. For more info, see GitHub issue #9399.
  • Fixed an issue where the PowerManager.SystemSuspendStatusChanged event was unusable to get the SystemSuspendStatus. For more info, see GitHub issue #2833.
  • Fixed an issue where initial keyboard focus was not correctly given to a WebView2 when that was the only control in the window.
  • Fixed an issue when using ExtendsContentIntoTitleBar=true where the Min/Max/Close buttons did not correctly appear in the UI Automation, which prevented Voice Access from showing numbers for those buttons.
  • Fixed an issue where an app might crash in a lock check due to unexpected reentrancy.
  • Fixed an issue from 1.6-experimental1 where TitleBar only shows the Icon and Title because some elements did not show up on load.
  • Fixed an issue where Hyperlink colors did not correctly update when switching into a high contrast theme.
  • Fixed an issue where changing the collection of a ListView in a background window may incorrectly move that window to the foreground and take focus.
  • Fixed an issue from 1.6-experimental1 where setting AcrylicBrush.TintLuminosityOpacity in .xaml in a class library project would crash with a type conversion error.
  • Fixed an issue where calling ItemsRepeater.StartBringIntoView could sometimes cause items to disappear.
  • Fixed an issue where touching and dragging on a Button in a ScrollViewer would leave it in a pressed state.
  • Updated IntelliSense, which was missing information for many newer types and members.

Version 1.6 Experimental (1.6.0-experimental1)

This is the latest release of the experimental channel.

To download, retarget your WinAppSDK NuGet version to 1.6.240531000-experimental1.

Required C# project changes for 1.6-experimental1

In 1.6-experimental1, Windows App SDK managed apps require Microsoft.Windows.SDK.NET.Ref *.*.*.35-preview (or later), which can be specified via WindowsSdkPackageVersion in your csproj file. For example:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
   <PropertyGroup>
       <OutputType>WinExe</OutputType>
       <TargetFramework>net8.0-windows10.0.22621.0</TargetFramework>
       <TargetPlatformMinVersion>10.0.17763.0</TargetPlatformMinVersion>
       <WindowsSdkPackageVersion>10.0.22621.35-preview</WindowsSdkPackageVersion>
   <PropertyGroup>
   ...

In addition, Windows App SDK managed apps using C#/WinRT should update to Microsoft.Windows.CsWinRT 2.1.0-prerelease.240602.1 (or later).

Native AOT support

The .NET PublishAot project property is now supported for native Ahead-Of-Time compilation. For details, see Native AOT Deployment. Because AOT builds on Trimming support, much of the following trimming-related guidance applies to AOT as well.

For PublishAot support, in addition to the C# project changes described in the previous section you'll also need a package reference to Microsoft.Windows.CsWinRT 2.1.0-prerelease.240602.1 (or later) to enable the source generator from that package.

Because the Windows App SDK invokes publishing targets when F5 deploying, we recommend enabling PublishAot at NuGet restore time by adding this to your csproj file:

<PublishAot Condition="'$(ExcludeRestorePackageImports)'=='true'">true</PublishAot>

In addition, we recommend conditionally enabling PublishAot when publishing release configurations, either in publish profiles or the project:

<PublishAot Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Release'">true</PublishAot>

Resolving AOT Issues

In this release, the developer is responsible for ensuring that all types are properly rooted to avoid trimming (such as with reflection-based {Binding} targets). Later releases will enhance both C#/WinRT and the XAML Compiler to automate rooting where possible, alert developers to trimming risks, and provide mechanisms to resolve.

Partial Classes

C#/WinRT also includes PublishAot support in version 2.1.0-prerelease.240602.1. To enable a class for AOT publishing with C#/WinRT, it must first be marked partial. This allows the C#/WinRT AOT source analyzer to attribute the classes for static analysis. Only classes (which contain methods, the targets of trimming) require this attribute.

Reflection-Free Techniques

To enable AOT compatibility, reflection-based techniques should be replaced with statically typed serialization, AppContext.BaseDirectory, typeof(), etc. For details, see Introduction to trim warnings.

Rooting Types

Until full support for {Binding} is implemented, types may be preserved from trimming as follows: Given project P consuming assembly A with type T in namespace N, which is only dynamically referenced (so normally trimmed), T can be preserved via:

P.csproj:

<ItemGroup>
    <TrimmerRootDescriptor Include="ILLink.Descriptors.xml" />
</ItemGroup>

ILLink.Descriptors.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<linker>
    <assembly fullname="A">
        <type fullname="N.T" preserve="all" />
    </assembly>
</linker>

For complete root descriptor XML expression syntax, see Root Descriptors.

Note

Dependency packages that have not yet adopted AOT support may exhibit runtime issues.

Improved TabView tab tear-out

TabView supports a new CanTearOutTabs mode which provides an enhanced experience for dragging tabs and dragging out to a new window. When this new option is enabled, tab dragging is very much like the tab drag experience in Edge and Chrome, where a new window is immediately created during the drag, allowing the user to drag it to the edge of the screen to maximize or snap the window in one smooth motion. This implementation also doesn't use drag-and-drop APIs, so it isn't impacted by any limitations in those APIs. Notably, tab tear-out is supported in processes running elevated as Administrator.

Known issue: In this release, pointer input behavior for CanTearOutTabs is incorrect on monitors with scale factor different than 100%. This will be fixed in the next 1.6 release.

New TitleBar control

A new TitleBar control makes it easy to create a great, customizable titlebar for your app with the following features:

  • Configurable Icon, Title, and Subtitle properties
  • An integrated back button
  • The ability to add a custom control like a search box
  • Automatic hiding and showing of elements based on window width
  • Affordances for showing active or deactive window state
  • Support for default titlebar features including draggable regions in empty areas, theme responsiveness, default caption (min/max/close) buttons, and built-in accessibility support

The TitleBar control is designed to support various combinations of titlebars, making it flexible to create the experience you want without having to write a lot of custom code. We took feedback from the community toolkit titlebar prototype and look forward to additional feedback!

Known issue: In this release, the TitleBar only shows the Icon and Title due to an issue where some elements don't show up on load. To work around this, use the following code to load the other elements (Subtitle, Header, Content, and Footer):

public MainWindow()
  {
      this.InitializeComponent();
      this.ExtendsContentIntoTitleBar = true;
      this.SetTitleBar(MyTitleBar);

      MyTitleBar.Loaded += MyTitleBar_Loaded;
  }

  private void MyTitleBar_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
  {
      // Parts get delay loaded. If you have the parts, make them visible.
      VisualStateManager.GoToState(MyTitleBar, "SubtitleTextVisible", false);
      VisualStateManager.GoToState(MyTitleBar, "HeaderVisible", false);
      VisualStateManager.GoToState(MyTitleBar, "ContentVisible", false);
      VisualStateManager.GoToState(MyTitleBar, "FooterVisible", false);

      // Run layout so we re-calculate the drag regions.
      MyTitleBar.InvalidateMeasure();
  }

This issue will be fixed in the next 1.6 release.

Other notable changes

  • Unsealed ItemsWrapGrid. This should be a backward-compatible change.
  • PipsPager supports a new mode where it can wrap between the first and list items.
  • RatingControl is now more customizable, by moving some hard-coded style properties to theme resources. This allows apps to override these values to better customize the appearance of RatingControl.

New APIs for 1.6-experimental1

1.6-experimental1 includes the following new APIs. These APIs are not experimental, but are not yet included in a stable release version of the WinAppSDK.

Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls

    PipsPager
        WrapMode
        WrapModeProperty

    PipsPagerWrapMode
        None
        Wrap

Additional 1.6-experimental1 APIs

This release includes the following new and modified experimental APIs:

Microsoft.UI.Content

    ChildContentLink
    ContentExternalOutputLink
        IsAboveContent

    ContentIsland
        Children
        Create
        FindAllForCompositor
        GetByVisual
        Offset
        RotationAngleInDegrees

    ContentSite
        Offset
        RotationAngleInDegrees

    ContentSiteView
        Offset
        RotationAngleInDegrees

    IContentLink
    IContentSiteBridge2
    ReadOnlyDesktopSiteBridge
Microsoft.UI.Input

    EnteredMoveSizeEventArgs
    EnteringMoveSizeEventArgs
    ExitedMoveSizeEventArgs
    InputNonClientPointerSource
        EnteredMoveSize
        EnteringMoveSize
        ExitedMoveSize
        WindowRectChanged
        WindowRectChanging

    MoveSizeOperation
    WindowRectChangedEventArgs
    WindowRectChangingEventArgs
Microsoft.UI.Windowing

    AppWindow
        DefaultTitleBarShouldMatchAppModeTheme
Microsoft.UI.Xaml

    XamlRoot
        CoordinateConverter
        TryGetContentIsland
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls

    ScrollingViewChangingEventArgs
    ScrollView
        ViewChanging

    StackLayout
        IsVirtualizationEnabled
        IsVirtualizationEnabledProperty

    TabView
        CanTearOutTabs
        CanTearOutTabsProperty
        ExternalTornOutTabsDropped
        ExternalTornOutTabsDropping
        TabTearOutRequested
        TabTearOutWindowRequested

    TabViewExternalTornOutTabsDroppedEventArgs
    TabViewExternalTornOutTabsDroppingEventArgs
    TabViewTabTearOutRequestedEventArgs
    TabViewTabTearOutWindowRequestedEventArgs
    TitleBar
    TitleBarAutomationPeer
    TitleBarTemplateSettings
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls.Primitives

    ScrollPresenter
        ViewChanging

Other known issues

  • Non-XAML applications that use Microsoft.UI.Content.ContentIslands and do not handle the ContentIsland.AutomationProviderRequested event (or return nullptr as the automation provider) will crash if any accessibility or UI automation tool is enabled such as Voice Access, Narrator, Accessibility Insights, Inspect.exe, etc.

Bug fixes

This release includes the following bug fixes:

  • Fixed an issue where clicking in an empty area of a ScrollViewer would always move focus to the first focusable control in the ScrollViewer and scroll that control into view. For more info, see GitHub issue #597.
  • Fixed an issue where the Window.Activated event sometimes fired multiple times. For more info, see GitHub issue #7343.
  • Fixed an issue setting the NavigationViewItem.IsSelected property to true prevents its children from showing when expanded. For more info, see GitHub issue #7930.
  • Fixed an issue where MediaPlayerElement would not properly display captions with None or DropShadow edge effects. For more info, see GitHub issue #7981.
  • Fixed an issue where the Flyout.ShowMode property was not used when showing the flyout. For more info, see GitHub issue #7987.
  • Fixed an issue where NumberBox would sometimes have rounding errors. For more info, see GitHub issue #8780.
  • Fixed an issue where using a library compiled against an older version of WinAppSDK can hit a trying to find a type or property. For more info, see GitHub issue #8810.
  • Fixed an issue where initial keyboard focus is not set when launching a window. For more info, see GitHub issue #8816.
  • Fixed an issue where FlyoutShowMode.TransientWithDismissOnPointerMoveAway didn't work after the first time it is shown. For more info, see GitHub issue #8896.
  • Fixed an issue where some controls did not correctly template bind Foreground and Background properties. For more info, see GitHub issue #7070, #9020, #9029, #9083 and #9102.
  • Fixed an issue where ThemeResources used in VisualStateManager setters wouldn't update on theme change. This commonly affected controls in flyouts. For more info, see GitHub issue #9198.
  • Fixed an issue where WebView would lose key focus, resulting in extra blur/focus events and other issues. For more info, see GitHub issue #9288.
  • Fixed an issue where NavigationView can show a binding error in debug output. For more info, see GitHub issue #9384.
  • Fixed an issue where SVG files defining a negative viewbox no longer rendered. For more info, see GitHub issue #9415.
  • Fixed an issue where changing ItemsView.Layout orientation caused an item to be removed. For more info, see GitHub issue #9422.
  • Fixed an issue where scrolling a ScrollView generated a lot of debug output. For more info, see GitHub issue #9434.
  • Fixed an issue where MapContorl.InteractiveControlsVisible does not work properly. For more info, see GitHub issue #9486.
  • Fixed an issue where MapControl.MapElementClick event doesn't properly fire. For more info, see GitHub issue #9487.
  • Fixed an issue where x:Bind doesn't check for null before using a weak reference, which can result in a crash. For more info, see GitHub issue #9551.
  • Fixed an issue where changing the TeachingTip.Target property doesn't correctly update its position. For more info, see GitHub issue #9553.
  • Fixed an issue where dropdowns did not respond in WebView2. For more info, see GitHub issue #9566.
  • Fixed a memory leak when using GeometryGroup. For more info, see GitHub issue #9578.
  • Fixed an issue where scrolling through a very large number of items from an ItemRepeater in a ScrollView can cause blank render frames. For more info, see GitHub issue #9643.
  • Fixed an issue where SceneVisual wasn't working.