I was hoping this could be answered in the Twitch Q&A today but since the Twitch Q&A is cancelled today, maybe somebody from Asobo or a Community Manager can get us an official answer on this.
For World Update 6, as you may now, many purchasers of MSFS in the Microsoft Store did not see the update in the Microsoft Store. The only way we were able to see the update in the Microsoft Store is by installing the X-Box app on our PC. The MSFS team is also aware of this and suggested installing the X-Box app if you didn’t see the update for MSFS in the Microsoft Store: https://twitter.com/MSFS_Support/status/1435282985490599938.
Now I would like to know whether we need to keep the X-Box app for future updates. I want to minimize the bloatware on my PC if possible. It would be nice if Asobo or Microsoft, or an official Community Manager can let us know whether we need to keep the X-Box app for future updates. Thank you.
I was thinking along similar lines, I now seem to have 4 Xbox related apps on my PC, it beats me why I need 4 Xbox apps on my PC. It is not even clear if this lastest one is intended to replace one of the others.
What I really don’t like is this one not only having been added to the taskbar, but also that it opens up on my screen when windows starts up, seemingly with no way of disabling this behaviour. The best I have done at the moment is disabled it from running at all when the pc starts up.
I have a feeling Microsoft is going to move to a subscription based service for MSFS. One can sense they, being Microsoft, will require a gammer to have a game-pass to fly MSFS in the near future to fly the simulator. Precisely why everything is being moved to XBox App. The Azure integration worldwide has a cost and somehow that cost has to be offset.
So I was one of those PC users who was “bit” by that SU5 update last month, where we waited and waited and waited…and nothing appeared in the MS Store. Eventually it was figured out that unlike any past updates, that one needed to be triggered by using the Xbox App on PC.
For this world update yesterday, I kept the Xbox App, but I never opened it (come to think of it though…It might have been minimized in my system tray). I opened the MS Store, and downloaded all updates, and there was the MSFS update package, just as expected!
So I would like to think that the issue last month with SU5 may have been an isolated issue? But I am still going to keep the Xbox App on my PC for future reference, just in case.
I think - if you actively open the app or not - it does the license-check in the background and whenever you are logged in within your MSFS (your XBOX-Account shows up in the top right corner) the sim itself uses xbox authentication services installed on your pc alongside the xbox app.
Didn`t try it, but I would guess uninstalling the xbox app would render the sim unusable for MS-Store customers, as it would be to uninstall the Steam-Client for Steam customers.
You only need the Xbox app to install the sim and any updates. Once it’s done you can uninstall it again.
Even that wasn’t always true. Xbox was one of the first things I uninstalled once I got Windows 10, and the first time I’ve needed it was this last update. I’ve uninstalled it now and I’m still simming away.
The Xbox app is 78 MB, downloads very quickly.
I also uninstalled it the day I installed windows along with any other useless X apps (btw. I don have GEforce experience installed either for the same reason or any other of that Bravo Sierra).
That is good news, that one can uninstall that bloatware again. Have to try when I get home, although I am still hoping that the whole thing was a MSStore glitch and in the future one can update without the app.
Yeah, there are already several X-Box applications on my Windows. I don’t need another one. I hope Asobo/Microsoft can clarify to us whether we need the X-Box app for future updates.
I have since uninstalled Xbox smart glass and Xbox companion, the later which effectively seems to be superseded by the Xbox app.
At this point I’m going to assume the Xbox app will be needed for the update process to work.
And yet what I can’t figure out is I’m a PC user who bought MSFS via Windows Store and I don’t have the Xbox app and was able to download WU6 via Windows Store just fine. So odd.
I assume that you do have the 4 Xbox services that we all seem to have ?
Those can be viewed by opening Computer Management, services and scroll to the bottom.
That’s probably why you got the update for WU6 without too many problems. A lot of people like me didn’t have the X-Box app installed for WU6 and we couldn’t get the update without it.
For me, yes…the Microsoft Store did not show the update, but the XBox app did. And then there was error downloading (in the XBox app) and so the XBox app unilaterally uninstalled all of MSFS. I’m currently at 1% on re-installing.
No, I did not need to run the XBox app to install today’s hotfix (I installed through the store as I always did before WU6). In fact, I had deleted the app from my PC after the WU6 release required it, at least in my case.
but no ill effects so far.