When searching for applications, no context is given around authenticity or authorship

[localden]

See example when searching for "GitHub":

Gets even funkier when you try to disambiguate between different results with the same name - which of these is the legit one?

[florelis]

This information comes from winget. On winget v1.5-preview the APIs used were extended to include more data, like the publisher name. If you're on a version of winget with that API, DevHome will just pick it up and show the publisher.

As for why there are two of the same app, it's because winget has multiple "sources". The "msstore" one has the applications available in the Microsoft Store, which are all published by the developer of the app. The "winget" one corresponds to the catalog maintained at https://github.com/microsoft/winget-pkgs, the list of apps is maintained by the community (and sometimes the app publisher), and checked by community moderators and some automated checks. So, apps that appear twice are likely the same, just differing in the version or maybe the installer technology.

[AmelBawa-msft]

@localden, information about the publisher is visible when a newer version of winget is installed. You can get the latest winget version by updating your App Installer application then restarting Dev Home.

Here's an example of the search result with newer version of winget installed:

[shakersMSFT]

This is a result of not having the latest version of App Installer. If this issue persists when updated, please re-open and let us know.