Is metro/store app destop or web based - windows-runtime

I know what is metro app (just did some research) my question is where metro app runs. By my understanding :
Detktop app: running on your local machine with .net framework, and present data to user, you can launch/close it.
Web app: Publishing on IIS server, running from server render html to client, user can send request and get result.
Now, Metro app: is it just distributed on windows store, user can download/install it and run from local as same as desktop? or run from store, render something to user like web? or maybe some new working styles, can user close it?

Metro Style App was a working name before Microsoft settled on Windows Store Apps.
Windows Store Apps just like desktop apps run on local machine, but are often architected in more modern ways where the app would often connect to web services or push notifications that run in a data center. The UI though usually runs on local machine even if it is written in html/js with winjs.
The biggest difference is distribution - web apps run on the server so you only need to navigate to them in your browser to run the latest version. Desktop apps need to be installed - either with xcopy-style install, Windows installer or perhaps the ClickOnce technology. Store apps are distributed through the store which makes them easier to install and update than desktop apps as well as monetize, but are sandboxed (have limited access to local machine resources) for security.

Related

chrome.enterprise.deviceAttributes availability for force-installed PWAs in chrome enterprise

I'm trying to determine if I can access any browser api for chrome OS that will allow me to identify the device that its running on when the application has been force-installed in kiosk mode as a PWA.
We're running into exactly the same issue right now. The correct path seems to be to create a PWA and to connect it to a (pre-installed) extension that has access to the enterprise.deviceAttributes:
See https://developers.chrome.com/apps/migration:
"If there is a capability that your Chrome App has that the regular web platform can't provide, it might be available as an extension API. In this case, you use a progressive web app together with an externally connectable extension your web app can send messages to."
enterprise.deviceAttributes are only accessible if the calling App/Site is pre-installed to the device and not loaded dynamically, so it cannot run in the PWA by design.
But with this tutorial, it seems possible:
https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/messaging#external-webpage
We're looking into that right now and will post our progess here.

Is it possible to create an automated PWA installation with user's consent?

I have a web app and have built a respective Electron app for Windows. I want to do the same thing for both IOS and Android without dealing with stores. The app is fully web but it will be hosted only locally, both front-end and back-end. So every client will have its own server in its own intranet.
The problem is that I do not want to open the local IP in every client browser and do 'Add to homescreen' manually.
The ideal approach would be to have an automated way to create and install the PWA on various local IOS, Android devices just as you would install an application in Windows.
My question: Is it possible to automatically create a PWA without having to go through the manual 'Browser' way?

Windows iot app updates.

I am in the digital signage business for small businesses. We have created an app that runs digital signage through the raspberry pi using Windows iot. Everything works great but what if one day we wanted to make changes to the app. Is there a way to update the app without having to manually do it on site. I would prefer having the app do it programmically through regular checks but I'm not finding anything. Wish there was a App Store mechanism for the pi to update apps. Any ideas on this?
All devices running Windows IoT Core run a small webserver instance on port 8080. You can reach this by visiting http://DEVICEIPADDRESS:8080
The default credentials are:
U:Administrator
P:p#ssw0rd
Within the portal, you can provision and deploy apps remotely using the App Manager by selecting "Apps" along the left-hand pane.
If you setup firewall rules to allow outbound traffic to the Windows IoT Core device you may be able to deploy updates remotely.
Currently there is no app store for windows iot but it is possible to create your own. You could implement this functionality using a push or pull system with Azure.
Push - azure pushes updates to the devices.
Pull - the device asks azure for updates
Get started with Event Hubs (tutorial describing how to implement Event Hubs in Azure)
Another option could be to write your own REST API on a server (Azure or your own server).

Can I deploy an HTML5 application using the WebAppRT executable?

I see that the lastest versions of Firefox come with a webapprt.exe and webapprt-stub.exe executable. I think that they are for the Open Web Apps system but I would like to know if it's possible to use the WebAppRT container with external made applications. I mean that I could distribute the WebAppRT executable, the shared libs required and my HTML files and deploy it offline without having Firefox installed.
Why?
What do you mean by "external made applications"?
Why don't you just create a web app as explained in Building Web apps - App Center | MDN ?
It will take care of the details and allow your app to reach more platform than doing it manually. For a glance see Platform-specific details of app installation - App Center | MDN
You don't have to do anything special to install apps on different platforms. All the information you need to provide, such as the app name, is contained in the app manifest. Here are some platform-specific details about how apps are installed on each platform. These details assume that Firefox has been installed on the platform.
To make that path easier, you can follow tutorials or clone an existing open-source web app that has something in common to see how it's done.
What did you mean?
If you mean to just manually locally install a some app that you write, the simplest thing to do would be to install any app, look at what's been done and replicate the steps with your app. But what's the point?
My guess is: it will work only if the local OS has a platform to actually execute the app. Then that platform will also be able to install the app properly. So, it will be simpler to you to just make a regular web app and have it installed through standard means.
Or were you thinking of something else?

Centralizing management of chrome packaged apps in private network

Is it possible to declarative install, uninstall, update chrome
packaged apps on client machines from server (or make all this
operations with system scripts)?
Is it possible to make local shell
aplication to navigate between chrome packaged apps?
Use case: educational private network (schoolclassroom) based on chrome apps. After loading device, user see custom shell. User can navigate between chrome applications, using shell. User do not touch system, or chrome at all.
Also, aministrator could add application on every client system, using some scripted software management system...