Microsoft makes it easier to install Windows store apps from the web

Microsoft makes it easier to install Windows store apps from the web

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Microsoft is starting to improve the experience of downloading Windows store apps from the web. The software giant has built what it calls an “undocked version of the [Microsoft] Store” that works like a typical executable to install apps from the Microsoft Store. It should cut down on the complexity involved in finding Windows store apps on the web and installing them.

Instead of launching the Microsoft Store and a mini window, now when you download apps from the web version of the Microsoft Store it will download a standalone installer instead. This means you don’t have to click install on the web, then allow Chrome or Edge to open the Microsoft Store, and finally hit install to actually install the app. A lightweight installer will be downloaded instead, which you can launch and install the Microsoft Store app you were looking for.

Image: Rudy Huyn (X)

The old way of installing Windows store apps from the web.

Image: Rudy Huyn (X)

The new way of installing Windows store apps from the web.

Microsoft Store developer Rudy Huyn claims this reduces the entire process down to just two clicks, but from my own testing it’s still three clicks to download and install Microsoft Store apps from the web. You click to download, you then click to open this new lightweight installer, and you still have to click install in the prompt that appears. Microsoft appears to have just simplified the process here by removing the prompt to approve the Microsoft Store being opened through Chrome or Edge.

Not all Microsoft Store apps seem to support this new lightweight installer, though. While I was able to download packaged versions of GroupMe and Snapchat, trying to download Discord this way still pushed me into the Microsoft Store instead. The standalone installers also don’t include the full app installer, as this is downloaded during the install process.

Microsoft has tested this new method over the past five months and it claims it has led, on average, to a 12 percent increase in installations and a 54 percent increase in the number of apps launched after install. That’s obviously good news for developers eager for Windows users to install and use their apps, so Microsoft is now expanding this experiment to “more products and markets,” according to Huyn.