My Personal Movie Library Manager reaches its third edition and moves to the Windows Universal format, finally landing on the Windows Store. A long but satisfying journey.

What Changed from Version 2

The old version was built for the legacy .NET 2.0 framework, making it primarily suitable for older versions of Windows. Porting it entirely to Windows Universal (UWP) was not straightforward:

• Improved engine — complete architectural reorganisation
• Loan management — new feature to track who you’ve lent DVDs and Blu-Rays to
• Asynchronous handling — all code rewritten for UWP async APIs: from 2 threads (UI + downloader) to a correct multi-thread model
• Deprecated classes from the old framework updated to their UWP equivalents

Why Try It?

Because it’s a great piece of software for managing your film collection, whether that means files on your hard drive or physical media in your library. It automatically searches for films on your hard drives and retrieves data from online databases for all titles, whether files or manually added Blu-Rays.

The loan management feature solves once and for all the question “who did I lend that DVD to?” — with one click you keep track of everything.

Note that the software contains no advertising, no paid add-on services, and no annoying banners of any kind. It’s a one-time purchase and the app is completely yours.

Development Notes

For anyone curious, this project was an excellent testing ground for learning the dynamics of asynchronous programming and the UWP model. Publishing on the Windows Store involves an initial cost (albeit small) and Microsoft retains 30% of the sale price. The time invested in development was significant — but the satisfaction of seeing an idea become a published product is priceless.

For any issues or to suggest new features, write directly in the comments: I’ll respond as soon as possible!