Serious Discussion Applications that work well with Smart App Control.

[Andy Ful]

Post updated (13.06.2024).

Smart App Control (SAC) is a new & controversial security feature introduced with Windows 11.

What is Smart App Control? - Microsoft Support

Smart App Control is a feature of Windows 11 that helps to block malicious, untrusted, or potentially unwanted apps from running on your device.

support.microsoft.com

Microsoft considers SAC an incredibly effective protection against malware. But, most users are not impressed due to issues with false positive detections.

In this thread, I present applications that can be used with SAC without issues.
Generally, apps downloaded from the Microsoft Store via the Get option should install/run/update without any issues. Microsoft Store uses the "Get" option for Universal Windows Platform apps, which have properly signed all installation components. Furthermore, these installations are fully managed by Microsoft Store service.

When the Install option is used, the desktop applications are installed. Although the desktop application installers from the Microsoft Store are digitally signed, some installation components can be unsigned. Furthermore, desktop applications can run temporary files which are unsigned. The desktop application updates are not managed via Microsoft Store. Such applications can be partially blocked by Smart App Control.

Here are some examples of useful apps from the Microsoft Store that work well with SAC. Most of them are delivered via the Get option, and some (developed by Microsoft) via the Install option:

Web browsers: Firefox, Edge (built-in).

Email clients: Mail (built-in), Thunderbird Email, Outlook, eM Client.

Music players: Foobar 2000 classic, MusicBee, AIMP,

Music: Spotify (built-in), Radio Suite, TuneIn Radio, SomaFM

Office: WPS Office.

Ebook/PDF readers:
Aquile Reader ( ePub),
Bookviser Preview (PDF, ePub, FictionBook 2.0),
Cover (Comic Book, PDF),
FBReader (PDF, ePub, MOBI, XPS, CHM, Comic Book, DOC, FictionBook 2.0),
Fiction Book Reader Limited (ePub, MOBI),
Perfect PDF Reader (PDF, XPS, OXPS, ePub, MOBI, FictionBook 2.0),
Real Ebook Reader (CHM, PDF, XPS, ePub, DjVu, MOBI, Comic Book, FictionBook 2.0),
Thorium Reader (PDF, ePub, DAISY),
Total Ebook Reader (PDF, ePub, MOBI, XPS, CHM, Comic Book, DjVu),
Xodo PDF Reader & Editor (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML, JPG, PNG, BMP, XPS, OXPS, TIFF).

Video players: Media Player (built-in), All Video Player HD, Kodi, MPV, SMPlayer.

CD/DVD Burn: ImgBurn.

Screen capture: Screenpresso, ShareX.

Archiver apps: Explorer built-in (.zip, .7z, .rar, etc.), NanaZip.

Remote assistance: Quick Assist (built-in).

Photos: Photos (built-in), Irfanview.

Productivity:
Microsoft Teams (built-in),
Microsoft To Do,
Microsoft Forms,
Microsoft Designer,
Sticky Notes (built-in),
Concepts.

Creativity:
Microsoft Clipchamp (built-in),
Blender 3.6 LTS,
Adobe Photoshop Express,
PhotoScape X,
PhotoMind,
Pixlr E,
Total Audio Recorder & Editor,
Microsoft Mesh,
IbisPaint (1 hour per day free),
Paint 3D,
Pixel Art Studio Free,
PixiEditor,
Cad+ (1 CAD).

Messengers: Messenger, WhatsApp.

Others: Sysinternals Suite, Bitwarden, Microsoft PC Manager.

Non-MicrosoftStore: Google Chrome (stable versions).

These apps are pretty good for simple tasks at home. They can be useful for novice computer users when SAC is applied for more security.

 

[Bot]

Great list! You've covered a wide range of categories and it's helpful to know these apps work well with SAC. For those concerned about false positives, sticking to these verified apps can certainly help. Remember, always download from trusted sources and keep your apps updated for optimal security.