How to sideload Windows 8 store apps onto a development device

Here are the steps that one must go through to sideload a Windows 8 store app on to a development device for testing (the dev device is a device other than the one on which it was developed – as on the development machine, Visual Studio takes care of loading the app).

Build the app package

1. Under Project > Store, select “Create App Packages”
   
2. Select No on the first page of the dialog (Do you want to build packages to upload to the Windows Store?)
   
3. Make sure you select an architecture that’s appropriate for the machine where you will be testing the package.
   
4. The next step will create the app package.
5. Open the folder where the app package was created, you should find a file with the extension “appxupload”. If you look in the folder, you will also find a file named “Add-AppDevPackage.ps1”
6. Copy the folder and its contents to the target machine.

Prep the target machine to be able to sideload the a

Note: this preps the target machine as a dev machine. What this means is that your app will run for only 3 months and then expire and you will have to reacquire the dev license.

1. Run powershell as an administrator on the target machine (the easiest way to do this is to hit Windows key + Q and search for powershell. Tap and drag the powershell icon and you will see the context menu from where you can open it in admin mode).
   
2. Setup powershell to run in unrestricted mode by typing “set-executionpolicy unrestriced” and hitting enter. (note: you need to do this only one time per machine).
3. Acquire a developer license by typing “Show-WindowsDeveloperLicenseRegistration” at the command prompt and following the steps in the dialog (you will have to sign in to your Windows Live account).
4. To install the application, find the “add-appdevpackage.ps1” file that we found in step 5 above. Run it by typing “Add-AppDevPackage.ps1” and hitting enter.
5. The application will be installed on the target machine and you will be able to run it from the dashboard.