Spotify's response to a UWP Spotify app for Windows

It's possible to install a UWP app without the Store, and my understanding is it gets sandboxed, cleaning uninstalled, etc. in all the same ways. There is nothing special about this functionality. The main thing you lose out on is Microsoft Account integration, using the Store for transactions, and the Store's auto-updating.

Part of the problem is that there's no major drive to convert an existing app over to UWP if you don't plan to use the Store. All you'd be doing is depriving yourself of sales to Windows users still on XP, Vista, 7, etc. and there is just no significant business reason to do that. It's probably an easier sell with a brand-new app, but then there's also a much stronger argument to just use the Store. Adobe probably went with XD CC on UWP as an experiment, but since it had already developed a cloud platform with an active userbase, update system, transaction system, and other integrations, it likely didn't make sense to distribute XD CC on the Store - it would probably be more work to support than just using Creative Cloud.

/r/Windows10 Thread Parent