Is it possible to run Windows 10 UWP apps on Ubuntu?

Question

Ubuntu is able to run traditional .exe applications with Wine. However, I do have some Universal Windows Platform (hereafter UWP) apps (installed by .appx and .msix) from the Windows Store that I would like to run. I'm currently using a dual-boot setup with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 16.04, and I mostly only use Windows to run UWP apps. I'd really like to use Ubuntu for everything, without having to reboot over and over again.

As of now, WINE doesn't support UWP apps. Is there any other virtual setup (like WINE) that can run UWP apps, besides just running it in VMware or VirtualBox?

I think you answered your own question. Linux is not a drop in replacement for windows and if you wish to run windows apps I suggest dual booting, virtualization, or better finding linux apps. Wine does not work for everything and is often complex to configure. — Panther, Jan 03 '18 at 13:32
Virtualization should be the 1st choice to explore. It is almost always a better answer than wine. Those apps only run on a normal windows. — Rinzwind, Jan 03 '18 at 17:54
One older question on Stackoverflow can answer this too. Link — androbin, Mar 15 '18 at 19:28
@Panther why? what's the problem with wine? what if I need to use just one app frequently, why should I do it? — 2xMax, Oct 22 '18 at 03:25
Possible duplicate of How to run Windows Store Apps on Linux — , Jan 30 '19 at 19:09
@cipricus My question was asked months earlier. Isn't the question you linked a duplicate of my question? — , Jan 31 '19 at 03:46
@AdityaRadhakrishnan Regarding the direction of duplicate closure, see this meta.SE question and this one on our meta. In this case, your question is of high quality, but it's unanswered and the other question has an answer. The answer there is useful and likely correct, though it could benefit from some explanation. Hopefully another answer will be posted that either gives a way to do it without virtualization or (far more likely) explains in detail why that is a difficult problem that so far has not been solved. — Eliah Kagan, Sep 01 '19 at 17:15
Related on SO: Is working Universal Windows Platform (UWP) on Linux,Mac,… based on dotNET Core? but possibly outdated information. — , Nov 15 '19 at 00:41
Related article: 'Safe and predictable' Windows 10 S won't run Linux, says Microsoft - ZDNet that clarifies some confusion with UWP, but not direct answer. — , Nov 15 '19 at 00:54
Related on RPI.SE: UWP app on Raspbian that hinted that is not possible (2016), but anecdotal and without any link to documentation. — , Nov 15 '19 at 01:00
Grace period note: The bounty has failed to encourage people to write an answer, and instead just received a plagiarized answer without any better references. I guess the only other way to fill in the gap *before a better answer comes up is to write a community wiki. — , Nov 18 '19 at 12:29

Kankaristo · Answer 1 · 2021-08-20T13:14:37.213

Running UWP apps is possible, at least with some apps. I've successfully run the Trello UWP app (which is only available from the Microsoft Store).

First, you need to acquire the .appx file for the UWP app. One way to do this without Windows or the Microsoft Store is to use this site: https://store.rg-adguard.net/

Paste the Microsoft Store URL of the app into the site. For example, the Trello app's URL is: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/trello/9nblggh4xxvw

This gives you links to all of the files available through the Microsoft Store. You only need the .appx file, which may be available as multiple versions (e.g. x86 and x64).

Chrome doesn't want to download the files simply by clicking the links. This made the site feel a bit sketchy at first. In Chrome's DevTools console, Chrome says that it's not downloading the file, because the Microsoft Store URL uses http://, and the site uses https://. But since the file is coming straight from microsoft.com, it feels safe to me.

Right-clicking the link, selecting "Save link as", and choosing "Keep" allows you to download the file despite Chrome's objections.

Once you have the .appx file, you can extract it. It's just a regular zip file, so run something like unzip -d output-dir file.appx or atool -x file.appx.

The extracted files should have a directory called "app", which should have the executable and other files for the app.

For the Trello app, just running wine Trello.exe inside the "app" directory worked for me. But other applications might not work straight away, if something more complex happens during their installation.

I found the executable file in may case WhiteboardWRT.exe. The link above mention using Trello example to " just run wine Trello.exe inside the app directory". I suppose that I have to go first in the directory using the Terminal then run in my case "wine WhiteboardWRT.exe" . If yes, what command to use to reach to the directory. — Yann Monnier, Aug 13 '21 at 15:59
This work If the application is only wrapped in APPX else if it is related to any exotic API like UWP or any complete dependency ( for example many related APPX files ) then the application does not work. — Adam Ł., Apr 29 '23 at 17:37

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 21 '20 at 07:39

4

No. Currently, there is no way to do this except from running in a virtual machine. The number of people who request this feature is extremely low and the number of people with the skill and mostly TIME to do this is close to zero I think.

answered Jun 21 '20 at 07:39

VidathD

2,704

Any wine update to M$ store/UWP? – Adam Ł. Apr 29 '23 at 17:38
The WINRT/UWP/APPX etc also has desktop sets of runtime packages - feel free to check if will work on wine (look for it on Microsoft home page).
https://copyprogramming.com/howto/microsoft-visual-c-2013-uwp-desktop-runtime
– Adam Ł. Jan 04 '24 at 10:29

Adam Ł. · Answer 3 · 2021-08-08T10:28:52.137

0

Basically, it's not a question of how to run the UWP app - but how to clone Microsoft Store on Linux in Wine - if the Microsoft Store will be recreated on wine then you can download and install ANY UWP app. It is some like this: https://github.com/kkkgo/LTSC-Add-MicrosoftStore

edited Aug 08 '21 at 10:28

answered Aug 07 '21 at 22:36

Adam Ł.

69

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Jan 02 '23 at 12:20

In theory, the steps for adding support for UWP apps to WINE on Linux might involve the following:

Obtain a thorough understanding of the Windows Runtime API, which is used by UWP apps. This would involve studying the API documentation and examining how UWP apps are built and executed on Windows 10.
Obtain a thorough understanding of the internals of WINE, including its architecture and the functions it provides to Windows applications running on Linux.
Develop a compatibility layer that simulates the functions of the Windows Runtime API, allowing UWP apps to be executed on Linux using WINE. This compatibility layer would likely need to be implemented in C or C++, the languages in which WINE is primarily written.
Test the compatibility layer thoroughly to ensure that it provides the necessary functions and behaves correctly when executing UWP apps on Linux using WINE.
Integrate the compatibility layer into the WINE codebase, and test it again to ensure that it works correctly with the rest of WINE.
Publish the updated version of WINE with support for UWP apps, and make it available for others to use.

Is it possible to run Windows 10 UWP apps on Ubuntu?

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