Windows App SDK 2.0 (2.0.1) 🎉

[agniuks]

WinAppSDK 2.0 is the next major release of the Windows App SDK, the first major version update since 1.0 (November 2021) and the first release on the new Semantic Versioning scheme. It ships new XAML capabilities, a modernized Storage Pickers surface, expanded popup and anchoring APIs in Microsoft.UI.Content, a new package deployment and validation framework, a refactored Windows ML stack, and additions across the Windows AI surface.

What's new in WinAppSDK 2.0:

• Semantic Versioning. Windows App SDK 2.0 standardizes on SemVer 2.0.0 and aligns the SDK version with the NuGet package version, so there's no separate date-based build number to track. The package family name now aligns with the major version, so the next side-by-side release will be 3.0.0.
• WebView2 (WinUI 3) drag support. Dragging text, HTML, images, and URLs out of WebView2 content hosted in WinUI 3 is now supported, along with drag cancellation, custom drag visuals, and customizable drag data. (Requires WebView2 Runtime 144.0.3719.11 or higher.)
• Package deployment and validation. The Microsoft.Windows.Management.Deployment namespace adds a new IPackageValidator framework with three built-in validators (PackageCertificateEkuValidator, PackageFamilyNameValidator, PackageMinimumVersionValidator), plus a new PackageVolume API for managing the storage volumes that packages are staged onto.
• Windows ML refactor. Core Windows ML features have been refactored into a new base package, Microsoft.Windows.AI.MachineLearning, with a minimal set of dependencies that supports apps down to Windows 10 v1903. The existing Microsoft.WindowsAppSDK.ML package continues to support Windows 10 v1809. The included ONNX Runtime version has been updated to 1.24.5.
• Windows AI additions. New AIFeatureReadyState values (CapabilityMissing, NotCompatibleWithSystemHardware, OSUpdateNeeded) help apps explain transient and durable failures during AI model acquisition so users get actionable guidance instead of a generic "not ready" condition. Phi Silica APIs are now enforced as part of a Limited Access Feature (LAF); see Phi Silica for details.
• Storage Pickers updates. The Microsoft.Windows.Storage.Pickers API (introduced in 1.8) is extended with file type choice grouping, persistent settings identifiers, suggested start folders, custom titles, multi-folder picking, and more, across FileOpenPicker,
  FileSavePicker, and FolderPicker.
• SystemBackdropElement is a new lightweight FrameworkElement that lets apps place a system backdrop such as Mica or Acrylic anywhere within the XAML layout, with a CornerRadius property for rounded backdrop areas. It closes a long-standing WinUI 3 gap where in-app acrylic effects (previously straightforward in WinUI 2 via AcrylicBrush.BackgroundSource) had no direct equivalent.
• Custom XAML Conditionals (IXamlCondition) enable developers to define custom conditions that integrate with XAML's conditional namespace syntax and are evaluated at XAML parse time. This replaces the experimental IXamlPredicate interface and unlocks conditional XAML based on feature flags, device capabilities, business logic, configuration settings, and other runtime conditions.
• Relative popup positioning in Microsoft.UI.Content. The new PopupAnchor API allows DesktopPopupSiteBridge to anchor to its owning window or island instead of being limited to absolute screen coordinates, with new AnchoringBehavior and AnchoringPixelAlignment properties to control the behavior.

Notable bug fixes:

• Fixed an issue where the WindowsAppSDK installer showed no progress during installation, making it appear stalled. The installer now provides clearer progress feedback.
• Fixed MSB8027 and LNK4042 build warnings caused by duplicate ClCompile items in Windows App SDK NuGet .targets files.
• Fixed a ListView crash that could occur during keyboard navigation (Tab/Shift+Tab) after the items list was updated.
• Fixed an issue where WinUI 3 could crash if focus was moved to the CoreWebView2Controller while the controller was not visible.
• Fixed a Windows ML bug where calling RegisterCertifiedAsync again in the same process incorrectly returned 0 execution providers (EP).

To see everything that's new and changed, including upgrade guidance and known issues, see the full Windows App SDK 2.0 release notes.

Try it out

• Download the 2.0.1 NuGet package to use WinAppSDK 2.0 in your app.
• Download and update the WinUI Gallery to see the WinUI 3 updates firsthand.

Getting started

To get started using Windows App SDK to develop Windows apps, check out the following documentation:

• Install developer tools.
• Create a WinUI 3 app.
• Continue your development journey.

---

This discussion was created from the release Windows App SDK 2.0 (2.0.1) 🎉.