Dissecting Windows 10 Mobile: Managing favorites in Microsoft Edge (video)

Virtually every web browser has a favorites functions which keeps your favorite web pages on speed dial for you. Thing is, every browser handles this simple task a little bit differently, and Edge for Windows 10 Mobile, approaches the task in some rather quirky ways.

At first blush, managing favorites seems straightforward: there is a favorites function icon hidden in the ellipses sub-menu, and an appropriately named “add to favorites” task in the vertical menu. Tapping on the favorites icon on the bottom grants you a list of all your favorites, which can be customized by holding on a given item, then dragging it to your desired location.

Seemingly straightforward

Things start to get a bit weird when you want to manage the finer details of your favorites. For instance, in most smartphones, holding on a single menu item is a common gesture for invoking the context menu, and that stays true to Edge, but it won’t actually invoke the context menu until after you let go of your touch. It doesn’t just pop up after a second or so like most sane configurations.

The menu items themselves are straightforward, but what becomes really nasty is when you can’t actually invoke this context menu. Many users have complained to me that they are unable to access this menu, and I myself have found my ability to access these context menus really inconsistent.

So, if you’re one of the unfortunate individuals who can’t manage your favorites in this manner, what do you do? Turns out, there is an alternative way to rename or delete your existing favorites.

This is done, rather unintuitively, through the Add to favorites function. When you add a favorite that isn’t already bookmarked, you should be granted with two buttons on the bottom, “add” or “cancel”.

Makes sense…

If, however, you already have the current page favorited, invoking the Add to favorites function should have the two bottom buttons appear as “save” and “delete”. If you modify the name of this pre-existing favorite, and hit save, it will most likely rename it. And if you hit delete, it will most likely delete this favorite, through the Add to favorites function.

Kind of…

I keep saying “should” and “most likely” because this melting pot of functions has a rather hazy history of reliability, at least in my experience. More often than not, the results are completely unpredictable.

And maybe to some, that’s a desirable thing. Windows 10 Mobile is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.

This examination was done with OS build 10586.107 and firmware revision 01078.00027.15506.02004, which is currently shipping and updating with the Lumia 950. This Lumia 950 is not in the Insider program. 

Further reading: Microsoft Edge, Windows 10 Mobile