UWP apps have a bunch of extra setup options that typical WPF does not have. This article either explains or points to resources that could help. Most, if not all, of the focus will be on the package.appxmanifest file that is generated with defaults upon creating a new UWP project in Visual Studio.
Visual assets
There is a section in the package.appxmanifest that requests varying sizes for icons/images. I recommend filling in all images that are labeled with scales of 100, 200, and 400 (or 1x, 2x, and 4x respectively). The naming that I use is based on the titles in the manifest along with the scale. Here is an example of a file that has all three scales and the original:
- BadgeLogo.png
- BadgeLogo.scale-100.png
- BadgeLogo.scale-200.png
- BadgeLogo.scale-400.png
Microsoft offers more details on the naming conventions including a way to place files into folders according to their scale.
Sideloading
Running a UWP app outside of Visual Studio is not straightforward. Executing the EXE does not work and presents an error about running from an AppContainer. In short, UWP apps must be packaged to run outside of the IDE. Typically, this involves right-clicking on the project, selecting “Store”, then “Create App Package” – there is an option here to proceed without prepping for the Windows Store.
When you have your AppX generated, you still have to tell your operating system that it is cool to run these sorts of apps. You do this by going to Settings >> Update & security >> For developers, then change the option to allow for sideloading or developer mode.
Microsoft’s offers their official thoughts and their older thoughts too.
More
There’s more steps to setting up and as I experience things more in-depth, I may cover in more detail here. In the meantime, Channel 9 has an article that covers a bit of it.