Camo comes to the Microsoft Store

We announced at Microsoft Build this summer that Camo’s coming to the Microsoft Store, and here it is: Camo Studio is now live in Store. This coincides with the release of Camo Studio 2.1 for Windows, which brings localisation into 12 new languages, an admin-less install, new onboarding and learning resources, and a host of fixes and improvements. You can now capture incredible video and add next-gen AI and adjustment features to your webcam, iPhone or Android’s camera — all with a single click from the Store.

I’d like to take a moment to dive into why we’re doing this.

First, we want to ensure Camo’s features delight users, and just work, wherever they choose to run it. Part of addressing that is by ensuring Camo feels like an intuitive extension of the video capabilities of each user’s PC. With its beautiful Fluent Design interface, Camo Studio for Windows is purpose-built for Windows, with each feature’s UX designed specifically for the platform. Just as the app itself is native, it supports a range of incredible hardware with cutting-edge Windows APIs and tooling, to ensure that it’s able to deliver fast, power-efficient performance and immersive AI features on a very broad range of PCs.

We’ve also sought to make discovering Camo as seamless as possible by bringing it to the user, where and when they need it. Just as we seek to help users fluently create great video, we want them to be fluent in finding it, and making Camo even more discoverable and accessible by bringing it to the Microsoft Store is an obvious next step. Creators and professionals around the world choose Windows as their go-to platform for their craft, and we’re thrilled to unlock a new path for people to discover Camo through the Microsoft Store.

These aspects touch on two of our core values: creating user delight and “it just works”. Another, which we take very seriously is integrity. Integrity that lays at the heart of our decision to publish to the Microsoft Store.

Integrity of product. In bringing Camo to the Microsoft Store we’ve not had to reduce its functionality; it’s the full, canonical Camo experience, every bit as powerful and easy to use as before. It can be hard to bring sophisticated, innovative products to software stores as their sandboxing sometimes caters only to APIs required by more prosaic products, but we found a straightforward path here.

Integrity of experience. The Microsoft Store is convenient, and easy for users to search and install from. The integrated auto-update mechanism will ultimately deliver users a smoother, more convenient experience. Further, enabling delivery through the Store has been a catalyst for our work to remove the need for administrator rights to install Camo. This, along with additional benefits like automatic Smart Screen approval and not needing a separate installer, will further improve experiences. Finally, delivery through the Store brings with it APIs and opportunities to integrate more closely with Windows workflows, laying a strong foundation for some of the future features on Camo’s roadmap.

Integrity of presentation. As a thoughtfully built, polished app, Camo thrives in editorial environments. Since its launch, Camo has benefitted from featuring and strong reviews. Case in point, Camo’s iPad experience is currently the #1 iPad app in Japan. Now, the Microsoft Store provides a structured context for Camo to be presented alongside its user reviews, editorial plaudits, and our introductory video content. Not compromising in how we showcase Camo and its capabilities – from AI to accessibility – is important.

Integrity of behaviour. The Microsoft Store serves to underline the commitment we have to our users. With sandboxing, display of permissions, curation, and reviews, it combines a set of features that demonstrate Camo behaves – and will continue to behave – in a secure, reliable and trustworthy manner. And it’s now just about how the software operates. In building our partnership with Microsoft, its team has consistently been considerate, accessible and supportive. Across meetings in London, Seattle, and remotely, I’ve been impressed by the consistency of the culture and values shared across dozens of individuals. I’ve particularly enjoyed meeting the team behind Store and learning their vision for it.

I hope you enjoy Camo Studio via the Microsoft Store. And well… as Camo’s new there, don’t forget to leave a review. Kind user feedback goes a long way! ❤️