page_title: Windows 8
section_title: Windows Store apps
hierarchical_section_title: Windows 8 / New and changed features / Windows Store apps
caption_attribution_description: English: Screenshot of Windows 8 showing Xbox Music app to the left (ready to play Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565) and Photos app to the right (showing an image of Fly Geyser in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada).
context_page_description: Windows 8 is an operating system that was produced by Microsoft, released as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. The product was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, and generally to retail on October 26, 2012. It is the successor to Windows 7.
  Windows 8 introduced major changes to the operating system's platform and user interface to improve its user experience on tablets, where Windows was now competing with mobile operating systems, including Android and iOS. In particular, these changes included a touch-optimized Windows shell based on Microsoft's "Metro" design language, the Start screen, a new platform for developing "apps" with an emphasis on touchscreen input, integration with online services, and Windows Store, an online distribution for downloading and purchasing new software. Windows 8 added support for USB 3.0, Advanced Format hard drives, near field communications, and cloud computing.
context_section_description: Windows 8 introduces a new style of application, Windows Store apps. According to Microsoft developer Jensen Harris, these apps are to be optimized for touchscreen environments and are more specialized than current desktop applications. Apps can run either in a full-screen mode or be snapped to the side of a screen. Apps can provide toast notifications on screen or animate their tiles on the Start screen with dynamic content. Apps can use "contracts"; a collection of hooks to provide common functionality that can integrate with other apps, including search and sharing. Apps can also provide integration with other services; for example, the People app can connect to a variety of different social networks and services (such as Facebook, Skype, and People service), while the Photos app can aggregate photos from services such as Facebook and Flickr.
  Windows Store apps run within a new set of APIs known as Windows Runtime, which supports programming languages such as C, C++, Visual Basic .NET, C#, along with HTML5 and JavaScript. If written in some "high-level" languages, apps written for Windows Runtime can be compatible with both Intel and ARM versions of Windows, otherwise they are not binary code compatible. Components may be compiled as Windows Runtime Components, permitting consumption by all compatible languages. To ensure stability and security, apps run within a sandboxed environment, and require permissions to access certain functionality, such as accessing the Internet or a camera.
  Retail versions of Windows 8 are only able to install these apps through Windows Store — a namesake distribution platform that offers both apps, and listings for desktop programs certified for comparability with Windows 8. A method to sideload apps from outside Windows Store is available to devices running Windows 8 Enterprise and joined to a domain; Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT devices that are not part of a domain can also sideload apps, but only after special product keys are obtained through volume licensing.
  The term "Immersive app" had been used internally by Microsoft developers to refer to the apps prior to the first official presentation of Windows 8, after which they were referred to as "Metro-style apps" in reference to the Metro design language. The term was phased out in August 2012; a Microsoft spokesperson denied rumors that the change was related to a potential trademark issue, and stated that "Metro" was only a codename that would be replaced prior to Windows 8's release. Following these reports, the terms "Modern UI-style apps", "Windows 8-style apps" and "Windows Store apps" began to be used by various Microsoft documents and material to refer to the new apps. In an interview on September 12, 2012, Soma Somasegar (vice president of Microsoft's development software division) confirmed that "Windows Store apps" would be the official term for the apps. An MSDN page explaining the Metro design language uses the term "Modern design" to refer to the language as a whole.
caption: Snap feature: Xbox Music, alongside Photos snapped into a sidebar to the right side of the screen
exif: {}