Kiosk Apps with WindowsAppSDK / WinUI3

[myokeeh]

@andrewleader, what is the latest on running WindowsAppSDK / WinUI3 apps as kiosk apps? I'm in the middle of converting a UWP kiosk app only to discover this is still unsupported. I've added my thoughts on product board some time ago and provided an update recently.

[myokeeh]

@andrewleader Following up.

[andrewleader]

Hi @myokeeh, I no longer work on WinAppSDK, but I've asked the team to follow up on this. Thanks!

[BRB2000]

I am also in desperate need for this feature. Another question would be, why the product board hasn't been updated since the launch of Windows App SDK version 1.1.

[BenJKuhn]

I discussed this at some length with the team that owns this area. The short answer is that at least for now kiosk mode is limited to UWP applications, and a change to that will require changes to the OS itself since there are some security model considerations.

Please consider opening this ask in feedback hub so it's tracked as a platform request. While the team is now aware of the gap, direct customer input is always appreciated.

[myokeeh]

@BenJKuhn @codendone do you have any updates on this?

[myokeeh]

Following up on this. Anyone?

[thirstyape]

I was rather surprised this morning when I discovered that MAUI apps (WinUI3) cannot be used in single-app kiosk mode. As UWP is effectively dead, its successor should have the same feature set implemented. The ability to develop apps using the current frameworks that can be used as a single-app kiosk is quite important. Please consider increasing the priority of this issue.

Thank you.

[christiannagel]

What's the current status with packaged WinUI apps?

microsoft/microsoft-ui-xaml#9828

Using the Windows Configuration Designer, an MSIX package can be selected. However, it detects a Windows Store app.

How would it be possible to use an app installer for WinUI in Kiosk mode?

We need the packaged version for auto update of the application. If packaged WinUI apps cannot be used, how would it be possible to do automatic updates of the application?

[mominshaikhdevs]

@christiannagel @myokeeh you may request the owners(@codendone, @bpulliam) to reopen the issue #3642 (since it is not fixed at all) and also update the title of that issue to reflect "single-app kiosk mode in WinUI3".

[exedor]

I've been caught in the same quagmire. This is a BIG problem. NOT COOL, Microsoft! I get that you have new leadership and lots of new ways of doing things, and that's awesome and has been helpful. For a long time, one of the greatest value propositions with Microsoft technologies was backward compatibility.

Having both developed and managed the development of front-end and back-end tech, I don't appreciate the front-end space much. The timeframes involved in stuff developed, used, adopted, and abandoned in that chaotic, yet creative space, is far too short for many businesses, and even some developers who may not learn as quickly as others, which causes problems for hiring managers. So much time is spent on busy work dealing with the latest severe security flaw, or complete abandonment in the interwoven web of hundreds of packages and dependencies upon them in any app of significant size, is a nightmare. That same nightmare is slowly creeping into all these core technologies that have historically had stability, backward compatibility, and interoperability.

A LOT of the stability that was there is getting lost. I LOVE the less combative, more open source, and collaborative approach Microsoft has taken in the past decade and a half. I'm just hoping that can be balanced in a way that also doesn't cause loss of the longest standing, and IMHO greatest advantages of using Microsoft technologies.