At its virtual Build event last month, Microsoft launched the Windows Package Manager, or winget, a command-line based tool that aims to make it easier to install your favorite apps more quickly. Soon after, developer Mehedi Hassan introduced Winstall.app, a web-based GUI that feeds off of the same GitHub repository as winget, providing a more accessible way to download those apps.
Today, Hassan announced that winstall.app is now out of preview, and with the full launch there are a few new features to look forward to. For one thing, you can now search for apps using a number of different parameters, such as associated tags, publisher, or description.
Each app also now has its own page, which can be accessed from the home page or search results. In the app page, you can see information about when it was last updated, get a link to the official site, and most notably, you can see both the current and any previous versions of the app. What"s more, any version you choose can either be added to a command line script or downloaded directly from winstall.app.
The website will now show icons for apps whenever possible, and there"s a new section for recent app updates on the home page. When you visit the All Apps page, you can now sort the list by name or by the date of the last update. Finally, there have been major performance improvements to the web app, and navigating from one page to another should be near instantaneous. Hassan notes that the app is built on Next.js, and that its API is backed by Azure Redis, which play a major role in its performance.
Since the introduction of winget, developers and publishers have been putting their apps on the platform at a rapid pace. For reference, when winstall.app launched, there were just over 240 apps available - currently, there are 580. As that growth continues, Microsoft could consider launching an official GUI for the tool, but winstall.app is a robust solution already.