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Welcome back to our weekly “Windows 10 Mobile news recap” series where we go over the top stories of the past week in the world of Microsoft’s mobile operating system. Let’s get started.
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At the start of the week, a brand new Instagram app for Windows 10 Mobile was released as a Beta. This new Instagram app is an unfinished Beta version that Instagram is using to net feedback from Windows 10 Mobile users about any bugs and issues they encounter. To achieve this, the app is baked with a function that lets you physically shake the phone to invoke a feedback function. You can watch our hands-on experience with the app below.
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According to a new report, Windows 10 Mobile is set for rollout later this month. Microsoft’s plans for updating Windows Phone 8.1 devices to Windows 10 Mobile have been fairly fluid. First, a November 2015 rollout was hinted at by a Microsoft executive in South Africa. Then, Microsoft commented on the official Lumia Facebook page that the rollout would begin in December 2015. Of course, it’s now March, and Windows Phone owners are still awaiting their update.
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If you haven’t already joined in on the discussion, Max Slater-Robins wrote an awesome opinion piece arguing that Microsoft needs to fix whatever is going on with Windows 10 Mobile right now and to stop keeping Windows Phone users in the dark. Read this story here.
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Microsoft rolled out Windows 10 Mobile build 10586.164 to the Slow and Preview rings this past week, fixing a bunch of things. See below for a changelog:
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- Improvements for the reliability of app notifications, including text messages and alarms not ringing as scheduled.
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- Improvements for text message backup to reduce data and battery usage.
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- Fixes for Microsoft Edge with address bar suggestions showing late or persisting during navigation, “Close all tabs” not closing all tabs, and Word Flow on the address bar not functioning as expected.
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- Fix for a problem where the Microsoft account was not detected by the Outlook Mail, Outlook Calendar and People app.
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- Attempting to add a new contact in this state caused the People app to crash for some users.
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- Fix for a problem that caused the Wi-Fi connection to temporarily switch off after prolonged use for some users.
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- Fix for a problem that caused first-party app updates to fail to install successfully for some users, leaving the apps in state where they cannot be launched.
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- Improvements for battery usage, Bluetooth connectivity, and OS reliability.
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Microsoft has merged the Insider Hub and Windows Feedback app in the latest internal builds of Windows 10 Redstone, creating one central hub for Insider announcements, feedback, and statistics. The new app is simply titled “Feedback Hub” and includes all features known from the Insider Hub and Feedback apps currently. More on this here.
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Speaking of Redstone, Microsoft releases Windows 10 Mobile Redstone preview build 14283 to Insiders this past week. There are a bunch of improvements and you can check them out here. Specifically, this build brings phone and notification improvements to Windows 10 Mobile, which is definitely welcomed.
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If you haven’t already done so, check out our hands-on review of the Alcatel ONETOUCH Fierce XL with Windows 10.
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Stay tuned for another exciting week of Windows 10 Mobile news!
\n\nFurther reading: Instagram, Microsoft, Redstone, Windows 10 Mobile