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Just like any other operating system, Windows 10 too has a place from where you can get apps. It is called Microsoft Store or the Windows store. But, is it the only place for Windows 10 from where you can get apps? No, certainly not!
And to be honest, there are times (although few instances are there) when we search for a software or an app and don't find it on Microsoft Store. We do need a Microsoft Store alternative.
There are some great Windows store alternatives out there. Here's another question that you might have –
Download the app you want to install. On the next page, scroll down to the big colorful 'Download APK' or 'Download APK Bundle' button — whichever it is you get, that will vary based on the app. Windows App Store free download - Windows App for WhatsApp, Windows Media Player, Viber for Windows, and many more programs.
Why Should I Consider Looking For A Microsoft Store Alternative?
What if one day, out of the blue, you find that your Microsoft Store is not working or you are unable to find an app or software like brightness controller for Windows 10 or an app to manage multiple monitors on Windows 10.
What would you do? Look for Microsoft Store alternatives. And, here are some great alternatives for Microsoft Store that you may want to give a try –
1. Softonic – The Most Popular Alternative To Windows Store
When it comes to software or applications for any platforms, Softonic is a force to reckon with. It won't be wrong to say, if you can't find an app or software elsewhere, search it on Softonic and you are most likely to get it there. It is entirely free to download and use. The software and apps span across all genres, such as security and privacy, games, browsers. You can even read reviews and several blogs about an app before downloading it. Multi chat app windows.
The only downside is the ads which might annoy you at times, but otherwise, it is indeed a great alternative to Microsoft Store. Worried about intrusive ads, we've got a solution.
2. AppAgg – Here You Can Find Apps For All Categories
AppAgg is an alternative to Windows Store where you can find apps pertaining to business, books and references, education, entertainment, food and dining, family, you name it. The best part is that it lists free and paid apps separately and even with paid apps, it tells you which all apps are discounted.
You can sort apps and games based on their reviews, release dates, ratings and number of downloads. You must have an account so that you can install the apps, software and games.
3. Ninite – Microsoft Windows Store Alternative That Brings To You Your Core Apps
Another alternative to Windows Store is Ninite. It is a custom software updater and installer which can come in handy especially if you are reinstalling Windows and want your old apps back. Ninite consists of core apps which need to be there on your Windows 10 PC. This means you won't have to hound for apps even on Microsoft store. And, you don't have to visit websites to download installer packages, since Ninite takes the pain for you.
The best part is Ninite installs the latest updated version of the apps without interrupting the installation process of your Windows 10 PC. This Microsoft Store alternative does require you to sign up and run the installer.
4. Portable Apps – Install And take Your Apps With You Wherever You Go
Next on our list of places like Windows Store is PortableApps.com. It has over 400 apps and has been downloaded over 890 million times. It is available in several languages which include English, Espanol, Turkish, Dutch, French and many others. Once downloaded, you can take your favourite apps on your local server, portable drives or even on various cloud storage mediums.
It works swiftly on the principle of downloading, installing and then running the application. It even comes with a customizable menu where you can find your core apps. The menu learns which apps you use the most and presents it to you.
5. FileHippo
Again, FileHippo has for long been applauded as one of the best alternatives to Windows Store. It ingeniously lists out all software and applications across several titles and categories. And, we don't mean any and every software under a particular category, but handpicked. Browsers, games, add-ons, apps pertaining to personalization, file sharing apps or any Windows 10 app under the sun marks its way on FileHippo.
And, you don't have to do much to install an app. Click the download button, install the software package, and that's it. Can it get simpler?
To Wrap Up
Microsoft Windows Store is a wonderful place which is filled with all kinds of apps. Having said that, if your thirst for software and apps has gone beyond Microsoft Store, you need a Windows Store alternative to quench your thirst. So, give these alternatives to Microsoft Store a try and let us know in the comments which is the one you would likely use if not Microsoft Store itself. Feel that there was an alternative to Microsoft Store that didn't make it to the list. Adobe xd cc 2018 9 0 0. Feel free to shoot it down in the comments section below.
15 Responses
The Windows Store came with Windows 8 and gets even more integration with 8.1 Update. In my opinion, it is ok for consumers but really throws things for a loop in the enterprise environment. There isn't much difference between downloading and installing a program from the Internet and using the Windows Store.
In particular, I have come across a few scenarios where a Windows 8 app is wanted to be installed automatically for all new computers. Another case has been a lab environment using mandatory profiles that wanted to take advantage of a Windows Store app but was unable to even enter the store.
When trying to open the Windows Store from a mandatory profile, I received the message 'You can't access the Windows Store because you're signed in to this PC using a temporary or guest account. Please sign in using a different type of account.' I didn't want the lab users to get that message nor did I really want them installing apps in this controlled environment, even if they would get wiped out after a reboot. A group policy setting under Computer Configuration and User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Store: Turn off the Store application allows you to prevent access to the Windows Store. If you try to launch the Store, users will now get a message saying 'Windows Store isn't available on this PC. Contact your system administrator for more information.' This setting also seemed to remove the Store from the taskbar, an annoying change that Windows 8.1 Update brought.
After applying that setting, it successfully blocked access to the Store but also meant the apps that were already installed were unable to open and had an ‘X' on the tile. Free web browser app.
When looking in the Apps View, the provisioned (pre-installed) apps had a faded ‘Error' next to them and were unable to open. This would make for a lousy first impression to an open lab environment.
Since these apps were not going to work anyways, I decided to remove them. The PowerShell script to do so is very easy:
Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online
2. AppAgg – Here You Can Find Apps For All Categories
AppAgg is an alternative to Windows Store where you can find apps pertaining to business, books and references, education, entertainment, food and dining, family, you name it. The best part is that it lists free and paid apps separately and even with paid apps, it tells you which all apps are discounted.
You can sort apps and games based on their reviews, release dates, ratings and number of downloads. You must have an account so that you can install the apps, software and games.
3. Ninite – Microsoft Windows Store Alternative That Brings To You Your Core Apps
Another alternative to Windows Store is Ninite. It is a custom software updater and installer which can come in handy especially if you are reinstalling Windows and want your old apps back. Ninite consists of core apps which need to be there on your Windows 10 PC. This means you won't have to hound for apps even on Microsoft store. And, you don't have to visit websites to download installer packages, since Ninite takes the pain for you.
The best part is Ninite installs the latest updated version of the apps without interrupting the installation process of your Windows 10 PC. This Microsoft Store alternative does require you to sign up and run the installer.
4. Portable Apps – Install And take Your Apps With You Wherever You Go
Next on our list of places like Windows Store is PortableApps.com. It has over 400 apps and has been downloaded over 890 million times. It is available in several languages which include English, Espanol, Turkish, Dutch, French and many others. Once downloaded, you can take your favourite apps on your local server, portable drives or even on various cloud storage mediums.
It works swiftly on the principle of downloading, installing and then running the application. It even comes with a customizable menu where you can find your core apps. The menu learns which apps you use the most and presents it to you.
5. FileHippo
Again, FileHippo has for long been applauded as one of the best alternatives to Windows Store. It ingeniously lists out all software and applications across several titles and categories. And, we don't mean any and every software under a particular category, but handpicked. Browsers, games, add-ons, apps pertaining to personalization, file sharing apps or any Windows 10 app under the sun marks its way on FileHippo.
And, you don't have to do much to install an app. Click the download button, install the software package, and that's it. Can it get simpler?
To Wrap Up
Microsoft Windows Store is a wonderful place which is filled with all kinds of apps. Having said that, if your thirst for software and apps has gone beyond Microsoft Store, you need a Windows Store alternative to quench your thirst. So, give these alternatives to Microsoft Store a try and let us know in the comments which is the one you would likely use if not Microsoft Store itself. Feel that there was an alternative to Microsoft Store that didn't make it to the list. Adobe xd cc 2018 9 0 0. Feel free to shoot it down in the comments section below.
15 Responses
The Windows Store came with Windows 8 and gets even more integration with 8.1 Update. In my opinion, it is ok for consumers but really throws things for a loop in the enterprise environment. There isn't much difference between downloading and installing a program from the Internet and using the Windows Store.
In particular, I have come across a few scenarios where a Windows 8 app is wanted to be installed automatically for all new computers. Another case has been a lab environment using mandatory profiles that wanted to take advantage of a Windows Store app but was unable to even enter the store.
When trying to open the Windows Store from a mandatory profile, I received the message 'You can't access the Windows Store because you're signed in to this PC using a temporary or guest account. Please sign in using a different type of account.' I didn't want the lab users to get that message nor did I really want them installing apps in this controlled environment, even if they would get wiped out after a reboot. A group policy setting under Computer Configuration and User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Store: Turn off the Store application allows you to prevent access to the Windows Store. If you try to launch the Store, users will now get a message saying 'Windows Store isn't available on this PC. Contact your system administrator for more information.' This setting also seemed to remove the Store from the taskbar, an annoying change that Windows 8.1 Update brought.
After applying that setting, it successfully blocked access to the Store but also meant the apps that were already installed were unable to open and had an ‘X' on the tile. Free web browser app.
When looking in the Apps View, the provisioned (pre-installed) apps had a faded ‘Error' next to them and were unable to open. This would make for a lousy first impression to an open lab environment.
Since these apps were not going to work anyways, I decided to remove them. The PowerShell script to do so is very easy:
Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online
Some apps like the Store will give an error and be skipped over because they can not be removed. The command removed the tiles for the other built-in apps that it could. As a side benefit, it also sped up the Welcome sign in animation from 65 seconds to just 9 seconds.
Now that I had gotten the disabled apps removed, it was just a matter of adding back the apps that I did want. Microsoft has plenty of documentation on installing Modern Apps or Windows Store Apps using PowerShell:
The documentation makes a distinction between loading apps from the Windows Store and loading LOB (Line of Business) apps. These also seem to be distinguished by the terms side-loading versus provisioning. LOB apps are those that you or a partnering organization has coded in-house but doesn't want listed in the Windows Store for just anybody to buy. Microsoft's pages detail the PowerShell code to install the apps but it skips over the simple fact: how do you get the app install file (.appx) in order to use the script? In the case of working with a developer, it makes sense that they can provide you with the signed .appx file.
Very few other developers, such as those making free apps through the Windows Store, provide those .appx files from a website. As a developer, the Windows Store is supposed to provide them some benefit, such as advertising their app and providing the bandwidth to get it out there. Meanwhile, a consumer might appreciate the Windows Store because it puts all of these free and paid apps in one place, instead of being scattered around the Web. Also, it's an assumption but their presence in the Store implies Microsoft is vouching for them as legitimate applications.
Getting the appx file
Using Fiddler, a web traffic debugging proxy, you can download the app from the Windows Store and capture the URL of where the .appx file is available. Then, you can copy the URL and download it using your standard browser. The download comes as a .zip file but you just rename the .zip to .appx.
Install Fiddler on a Windows 8.x computer and follow the configure Fiddler for Windows 8 guide. Open the Store and get to the app you wish to acquire. Clear all records in Fiddler so you have less traffic to dig through by clicking the X (delete) button on the toolbar. Then switch back to the store and choose to install the app. Now, you switch back to Fiddler and watch the web traffic come in. You will likely see a few URLs to .appx or .appxbundle files.
Right-click on the .appx URLs (this may take some trial and error to find the right one) and choose to copy the URL. Then paste the URL into Internet Explorer and if prompted to download a file choose to save it. The URL is only available for a short time, so you'll need to follow up the Windows Store download quickly with downloading it through IE. If it didn't work or gave you an access denied message, try another one of the .appx URLs.
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Once you have the file downloaded, you will notice that it is saved to your computer as a .zip file. Just rename the file to anything you want with the extension .appx or .appxbundle to match what Fiddler showed. You can look around in the .zip file first if you would like to get an understanding of what all is in the file and to see information about the app.
Sometimes apps might have dependencies, so you will need to download those as well. They'll be listed in Fiddler just like the actual app and you'll want to grab those too and also rename them to match the .appx file extension.
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When downloading the app, you might need to do the process repeatedly. You can right-click on the app on your Start Screen to uninstall it and then trigger the install process again in the Store to monitor the traffic with Fiddler again. Mohegan sun casino review. You can also uninstall the app using PowerShell if this will help automate the process.
Installing the app
Gmail app download pc. Once you have your .appx file for the app, you can now install it through PowerShell. This means you can also use it in a logon script to automate the process of providing the app to the computers/users that may need it.
Use Powershell to install the .appx file through a script. This is very easily done with Add-AppxPackage:
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Add-AppxPackage -Path 'C:PathToAppxapp1.appx'
UNC paths are also fair game:
Add-AppxPackage –Path 'ServerShareFolderAppsapp1.appx'
To take care of dependencies, you can either install them prior to the app install:
Add-AppxPackage -Path 'C:PathToAppxwinjs.appx'
Add-AppxPackage -Path 'C:PathToAppxapp1.appx'
Or you can include dependencies in a single line: Quick hit slots tragamonedas.
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Add-AppxPackage C:app1.appx –DependencyPath C:winjs.appx
One of the free apps from Microsoft that I wished to include for the lab environment was the Windows Scan app. It is very simplistic and should be easy to use. It had a dependency for VCLibs.120.00. This was installed with the computer by default but was removed along with the other provisioned apps. Installing the Windows Scan app, I was able to spot it in Fiddler and download the VCLibs .appx file and install it ahead of the Windows Scan app. Alternatively, you could be more granular with removing the provisioned apps in this instance.
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Application
In my testing, it has been very consistent to install these apps on demand at logon while also speeding up the logon process. I was able to save the .appx files to a server share and script the app install process. This script is then loaded at logon via Group Policy.
A Group Policy setting may need to be enabled for this to work in your environment: Allow deployment operations in special profiles
It is found under Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesWindows ComponentsApp Package Deployment
This policy setting allows you to manage the deployment of Windows Store apps when the user is signed in using a special profile. specialprofiles are the following user profiles, where changes are discarded after the user signs off:
Roaming user profiles to which the 'Delete cached copies of roaming profiles' Group Policy setting applies
Mandatory user profiles and super-mandatory profiles, which are created by an administrator
Temporary user profiles, which are created when an error prevents the correct profile from loading
User profiles for the Guest account and members of the Guests group
If you enable this policy setting, Group Policy allows deployment operations (adding, registering, staging, updating, or removing an app package) of Windows Store apps when using a specialprofile.
If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Group Policy blocks deployment operations of Windows Store apps when using a special profile.
Updates
I can't say that I speak from experience, because I'm not sure if the apps have updated in the month since I implemented this, but my working theory is that you are on the hook to manually install updates if the user does not have access to the Store. You will have to recapture the appx file and update your script source to point to the updated version.
The downside with this is that you won't get the latest features or security fixes. The upside is you're basically working in a vacuum. The app worked well at the point of deployment, so it should continue to work well as long as it still has the dependencies it needs.
If the user has access to the Store, I believe the apps will keep themselves up to date. In this scenario, it implies that they don't have a mandatory profile, so the app would only need to be installed once instead of each sign in. From there, the user (or the Store automatically in the background) should be able to update the app.
