XAP is the file format for:
- mobile apps for the Windows Phone operating system
- Silverlight web apps
Since the relase of Windows Phone 8.1 XAP was replaced by the the APPX file format used to install WinRT apps on the Windows Phone Support.
- Speedy Blupi for Windows Phone uses the XAP file format, this means we can ignore APPX.
A XAP file is a ZIP file, but which has the xap file extension (not zip).
The MIME type for XAP files is: appilcation/x-silverlight-app.
Microsoft later enabled the possibility to encrypt the XAP file. A standard ZIP extractor does not work for encrypted XAP files.
- Fortunately, the XAP file of Speedy Blupi is not encrypted and can be opened as a standard ZIP file.
Content of a XAP file
- AppManifest.xaml file
- DLLs, which are required
- Application / Game resources (images and others)
How to determine the Windows Phone version for which an XAP file was created
You can inspect the contents of the XAP, specifically its WMAppManifest.xml
file. This file contains metadata about the app, including the target Windows Phone OS version. Follow these steps:
Step 1: Extract the XAP File
- Rename the XAP file:
- Change the file extension from
.xap
to.zip
.
- Change the file extension from
- Extract the ZIP file:
- Use a tool like 7-Zip, WinRAR, or any other archive extractor.
Step 2: Locate the WMAppManifest.xml
File
- Navigate to the extracted folder.
- Look for the file named
WMAppManifest.xml
. It's typically located in the root of the XAP or under a folder likeApp
.
Step 3: Inspect the WMAppManifest.xml
File
- Open the
WMAppManifest.xml
file in a text editor (e.g., Notepad++ or VS Code). - Look for the value of the attribute
AppPlatformVersion
of the tag deployment.
Step 4: Interpret the Version
- Common version numbers:
- 7.1: Windows Phone 7.5.
- 8.0: Windows Phone 8.0.
- 8.1: Windows Phone 8.1.
Regarding Speedy Blupi for Windows Phone, that AppPlatformVersion is 7.1, which means, that Speedy Blupi target Windows Phone 7.5 or newer devices.
- <Deployment xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/windowsphone/2009/deployment" AppPlatformVersion="7.1">