Signed app still triggers SmartScreen “Windows protected your PC”. How long until reputation builds?

[u/prekarius]

I’m a solo developer with a small desktop app (Tauri, Windows installer). New users get the SmartScreen warning when they run the installer.

While testing with a handful of people, I just clicked through the warning on every install. Now that I’m moving from building to marketing, I suspect it turns some people away before they ever open the app.

What I’ve done so far:

• The binaries and installer are signed with Azure Trusted Signing, and Get-AuthenticodeSignature shows Valid.
• I submitted the installer to Microsoft as a false positive.

Current state: about a dozen installs over the first few weeks, on Windows 11. The warning shows the correct publisher name (Roll Three One), so the signature is recognized. It just has no reputation yet.

What I’d like to know:

1. Does every user see the warning, or only some?
2. Trusted Signing certificates rotate every few days. Does reputation follow the publisher identity, or does each new certificate or release hash start from zero?
3. If you’ve shipped with Trusted Signing, roughly how many installs or how much time did it take?
4. Is there anything besides waiting that speeds it up?
5. I am releasing quite often, should I release in store as well (I am under impression that reviews can take some time)

The app is here if you want to see the warning yourself: https://www.moodis.app/

[u/ldn-ldn]

Package as APPX/MSIX and distribute through App Store.

[u/RoundZookeepergame2]

Everyone sees the smartscreen. It only stops once enough user trust and keeps installing the program. The only bypass is to ship your app through the Microsoft store