OmniConsole

🌐 English | 繁體中文

A custom WinUI 3 gaming platform launcher designed to replace the default Windows 11 Full Screen Experience (FSE) Home shell, providing a seamless, console-like boot experience for gaming PCs and handhelds.

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💡 What is OmniConsole?

OmniConsole serves as the Windows 11 Full Screen Experience (FSE) Home shell on your PC or handheld device (ROG Xbox Ally, etc.), launching your chosen gaming platform automatically whenever FSE is activated. The default FSE Home only supports the Xbox App — OmniConsole removes this limitation, letting you choose from:

• On boot: With "Enter full screen experience on startup" enabled, your gaming platform launches automatically at boot.
• During use: Press the Xbox button, then select "Home" in Game Bar to launch your gaming platform, or "Library" to open OmniConsole settings by default.

How It Works

Trigger (System boot / Xbox button → Game Bar "Home" or "Library" / Start Menu → OmniConsole)
→ OmniConsole activates
→ Already in FSE: Launches your chosen gaming platform → OmniConsole hides and exits
→ Outside FSE: FSE entry dialog → Confirm → Re-launches in FSE → Launches your chosen gaming platform → OmniConsole hides and exits

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✨ Features

• Automatic Platform Launch – Launches your configured gaming platform on activation.
• Automatic FSE Entry – When launched outside of FSE mode (e.g., from the Start Menu), OmniConsole automatically triggers the FSE entry dialog.
• Multi-Platform Support – Supports Steam Big Picture, Xbox App, Epic Games Launcher, Armoury Crate SE, and Playnite Fullscreen.
• Custom Platform Support (Experimental) – Supports adding your own platforms via Protocol URI, executable path, or Packaged App (MSIX / APPX / Bundle), with a card cover image. Launch arguments are available when using the executable path type.
• Platform Import & Export – Supports sharing custom platform configurations as JSON. Right-click or long-press a card to export; use the Import button to import shared configurations.
• Gamepad-Compatible File Picker – A custom-built file picker that replaces the system FileOpenPicker (which does not support gamepad input). Browse for executables and cover images entirely with a controller. A "Browse (Windows)" button is also available for users who prefer the legacy system file picker.
• Card-Grid Settings UI – Large icon cards designed for large-screen and handheld use, operable with mouse, touch, or Xbox controller.
• Game Bar Integration – Configures how Game Bar's "Home" and "Library" buttons behave: "Home" launches your gaming platform, "Library" opens OmniConsole settings by default, or passes through directly to a platform like Xbox App.
• Troubleshoot Page – A dedicated page for emergency FSE recovery: terminates Game Bar and enters FSE directly, bypassing the FSE confirmation dialog.
• Gamepad Support – Navigate with D-Pad or Left Stick, press A to confirm, B to exit, LB/RB to switch category tabs, Y to add a custom platform, X to edit, and Menu (☰) to set the focused platform as default and launch it immediately (in FSE mode).
• Dedicated Settings Entry – A separate "OmniConsole Settings" entry appears in All Apps, so you can change your default platform anytime.
• Native FSE Integration – Registers as a Windows 11 Full Screen Experience Home App through the official FSE API.
• In-App Updates – Automatically checks for the latest GitHub releases, with built-in downloading and installation available directly from the Advanced settings page.
• Multilingual UI – Supports English, Traditional Chinese (繁體中文), and Simplified Chinese (简体中文).

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⚙️ Prerequisites

Before installing OmniConsole, you need to enable the Windows 11 Full Screen Experience feature:

• Desktops, Laptops, Tablets & Handhelds without native FSE: Use Xbox Full Screen Experience Tool to enable FSE first.
• Native FSE Handheld Devices (e.g., ROG Xbox Ally series): FSE is natively supported. Install OmniConsole directly.

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🚀 Quick Start

1. Install OmniConsole

1. [Critical] Go to Settings → System → Advanced and enable Developer Mode.
2. Download the latest .msix package and .cer certificate from the Releases Page.
3. [Critical] Double-click the .cer file → click Install Certificate → Store Location: Local Machine → Place all certificates in the following store → Browse → select Trusted People → Finish.
4. Double-click the .msix file to install.

2. Configure Your Default Platform

OmniConsole will present the Settings UI on first launch or after app updates. You can also open it manually anytime from the Start Menu:

1. Open "OmniConsole Settings" from the Start Menu (All Apps).

2. Select your preferred gaming platform from the card grid using a mouse, touch, or Xbox controller (D-Pad/Left Stick to navigate in all four directions, A to confirm):

   • Steam Big Picture
   • Xbox App
   • Epic Games Launcher
   • Armoury Crate SE
   • Playnite Fullscreen

   Your selection is saved automatically. Press B on your controller or click/press Exit to finish.

3. [Critical] Set as FSE Home App

1. Go to Settings → Gaming → Full Screen Experience.
2. Set "Choose Home app" to OmniConsole.
3. Enable "Enter full screen experience on startup" (Highly Recommended).

4. Done!

Your gaming platform now launches via any of these entry points:

• Game Bar: Press the Xbox button, then select "Home" to launch your gaming platform, or "Library" to open OmniConsole settings by default.
• Boot: Enable "Enter full screen experience on startup" for automatic launch at boot.
• Start Menu: Launch OmniConsole directly to automatically activate the Full Screen Experience (FSE).

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🔄 How to Revert

⚠️ Change the FSE Home App setting before uninstalling OmniConsole. If OmniConsole is removed while it is still set as the FSE Home App, Windows Task View will stop working. This is a bug in Windows itself.

1. Go to Settings → Gaming → Full Screen Experience.
2. Set "Choose Home app" to Xbox or None.
3. Uninstall OmniConsole from Settings → Apps → Installed apps, or right-click OmniConsole in the Start Menu and select Uninstall.

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🛠️ Troubleshooting

If you experience an issue where the Windows Full Screen Experience (FSE) entry dialog ("Restart for better performance") fails to appear due to a Windows bug:

1. Open OmniConsole Settings from the Start Menu.
2. Navigate to the Troubleshoot tab using the left menu.
3. Click the "Run" button next to "Terminate Game Bar & Enter FSE". This will force-close Game Bar and enter FSE directly, bypassing the FSE confirmation dialog.

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💻 Tech Stack

• Primary Stack: C# & .NET 8
• UI Framework: WinUI 3
• Packaging: MSIX

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🛠️ Local Development

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://github.com/8bit2qubit/OmniConsole.git
   cd OmniConsole

2. Open in Visual Studio

   Open OmniConsole.sln with Visual Studio 2022 (17.0+). Ensure the WinUI application development workload is installed.

3. Run for Development

   Set the build configuration to Debug, select your platform (x64 / ARM64), and press F5.

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🌟 Star History

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0).

You are free to use, modify, and distribute this software, but any derivative works must also be distributed under the same GPL-3.0 license and provide the complete source code. For more details, see the official GPL-3.0 terms.