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WinUI Gallery 2.9 is the verified release covered by Microsoft’s announcement—not 3.0. Built on Windows App SDK 2.0, it adds examples for SystemBackdropElement, SplitMenuFlyoutItem, and XAML conditions, alongside updates to navigation transitions, connected animations, and media playback. Microsoft’s GitHub releases page lists v2.9.3 as the latest release reviewed here.
What WinUI Gallery does
WinUI Gallery is a companion app for exploring WinUI and Windows App SDK APIs. Its interactive samples demonstrate controls and styles, show code snippets, and offer examples of adaptive user interfaces, design, and accessibility guidance. You can browse the WinUI Gallery repository or get the app through the Microsoft Store, as described in Microsoft Learn’s WinUI documentation.
What’s new in WinUI Gallery 2.9
Microsoft announced Gallery 2.9 on April 30, 2026, and says it is built on Windows App SDK 2.0. The release’s examples focus on APIs and patterns developers can explore in context:
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- SystemBackdropElement: Shows Mica and Acrylic as XAML elements inside an app’s visual tree. This supports examples such as custom surfaces and transparent-window layouts.
- SplitMenuFlyoutItem: Demonstrates a menu item that provides a primary action as well as a related submenu.
- XAML conditions: Shows how to implement
IXamlConditionand use a conditional XAML namespace to gate markup. - Navigation transitions: Adds examples for two
NavigationTransitionInfooptions. - Connected animations: Adds a connected-animation example using
ItemsRepeater. - Media playback: Updates the
MediaPlayerElementsample to play local files.
The announcement also credits community contributors and points readers to the Microsoft Store and GitHub repository. These are sample implementations to inspect and learn from; they are not a claim that every example fits every app without adaptation.
#1 Best Overall
Why the title’s “3.0” needs a correction
The release information reviewed does not verify WinUI Gallery 3.0 as a current release. Microsoft’s announcement is for 2.9, while the official GitHub releases page identifies v2.9.3 as latest. The app version and the Windows App SDK version are separate: Gallery 2.9 is built on Windows App SDK 2.0. The 2.0 figure is not the Gallery release number.
Get the Gallery or build it yourself
Install the app
For browsing samples, use the Microsoft Store download linked from Microsoft Learn. The repository README states that the app runs on Windows 10 or later.
Build from source
- Open the Microsoft WinUI Gallery repository and follow its current build instructions.
- Use Visual Studio 2022 or later, the version specified by the repository as a build requirement.
- Run the resulting app on Windows 10 or later.
Building is useful if you want to inspect or modify the sample project; it is not necessary just to browse the Gallery’s examples.
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The repository says the Gallery uses an experimental Windows App SDK to demonstrate upcoming features. Its SDK version is pinned in standalone.props, and the runtime is bundled with the app. Experimental APIs may change or be removed before they reach a stable release; the repository says experimental examples are labeled. Treat those examples as demonstrations of features under development, not as guarantees about a stable platform contract.
Rank #3
For a specific API, check whether its Gallery example is marked experimental and consult the documentation for the Windows App SDK version you intend to ship with. A working sample can show how an API is used, but it does not by itself establish that the API is stable or available in every target environment.
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