Installing OutaStory on Windows

There is a proper OutaStory app for Windows. You do not have to install
it — the website works perfectly well in any browser — but the app keeps
stories on your PC for offline reading and starts a little faster.

What you need

Windows 10 version 1809 or newer, or any version of Windows 11. It
runs on ordinary Intel and AMD PCs and on ARM machines like the Surface
Pro X. You do not have to work out which one you have: the download
contains both.

Three ways to install it

Pick whichever suits you. All three install the same app.

1. From the Microsoft Store (easiest)

Open the
Microsoft Store listing
and press Get. Windows handles the rest, including future updates.

This is the option to take if you are not sure. Nothing to download by
hand, nothing to allow.

2. With winget, from the command line

If you are comfortable with a terminal, OutaStory is in the Windows
Package Manager community repository. Open Terminal or
PowerShell and type:

winget install Threebit.OutaStory

To update it later:

winget upgrade Threebit.OutaStory

Windows Package Manager is built into Windows 11. On Windows 10 you get
it by installing App Installer from Microsoft.

3. A direct download from us

Our apps page on the website, at /about/apps, offers the installer as a
single signed file. Download it, double-click it, and confirm the install.

Use this if your workplace blocks the store, or if you want a specific
older version — the same page keeps earlier releases under
Previous releases. (That page lives on the website; inside the
installed app it takes you to the general about page instead.)

"Windows protected your PC"

With the direct download you may see a blue box reading "Windows
protected your PC". That is Windows being careful about a file it has
not seen many times before. It is not a sign that anything is wrong.

Click More info, then Run anyway, and the install continues.

If you would rather not see that at all, use the Microsoft Store option
instead — nothing about the app itself differs.

How updates arrive

• Installed from the Microsoft Store: Windows updates it for you in
  the background.
• Installed with winget: run winget upgrade Threebit.OutaStory
  whenever you like.
• Installed by direct download: fetch the newer file from the apps
  page on the website and install it over the top. Nothing is lost.

OutaStory also tells you inside the app when a newer version exists —
see Keeping the app up to
date.

Two things worth knowing

• There are no pop-up notifications on Windows. Windows never shows
  an OutaStory notice outside the app. Everything still arrives in the
  notification centre at /notifications — see
  Managing your
  notifications.
• Offline reading works here. Downloading a story for a train
  journey is an app feature, and the Windows app has it. See
  Reading offline.

If it will not install

1. Check your Windows version. Settings → System → About. Anything
   older than Windows 10 version 1809 will refuse.
2. Restart and try again. A half-finished install blocks the next
   one, and a restart clears it.
3. Try one of the other two routes above. If the store install
   fails, the direct download usually works, and the other way round.
4. Still stuck? Open a ticket at /help/contact and
   tell us which route you tried and the exact wording of the error.