Phone updates are a wonderful, rare, and mysterious. Windows Phone has a good track record of receiving updates to old hardware but wireless carriers can be another story. Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2 remains an elusive update with little information directly from Microsoft. Recently Microsoft released the official change log, which is helpful but not comprehensive. Microsoft and carriers still have not given details regarding availability or rollout plans for Update 2.
According the Microsoft here this is the change log for Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2:
- Settings. Find your phone settings more easily. Tap one of the new settings categories to jump to it, use Search to find a setting, or pan down to peruse in the traditional way. Additionally, phone settings can now be pinned to Start.
- Calendar. Agenda view is back.
- Name your phone. Give your phone a name without connecting to a PC. Just tap Settings > About > Edit name to name it.
- VPN. Now you can use certificates to sign in for L2TP VPN connections. Always-on VPN profiles are now supported too, so you’re automatically and always connected.
- Bluetooth. Type with more than your thumbs. Use an external Bluetooth keyboard and watch the words fly on your phone. And now get your text messages straight from your car if it has a compatible Bluetooth system.
- App privacy permissions. Now you control whether an app can access your contacts, calendar, camera, microphone and text messages. Just tap Settings > App permissions to get started.
However, we know from phones which have Update 2 pre-loaded (Lumia 640) there are more features such as MKV playback, new ‘All Apps’ button at the bottom of Start, Reset Protection, and double tap to hide the on-screen nav bar. While these features are mostly visible to users Update 2 probably brings performance and stability enhancements although Microsoft has not confirmed.
Update 2 was rolling out to some 830 and 735 users, but no official word on where and why from Microsoft or any carriers as of yet. Some new phones will be shipping with Update 2 pre-installed such as the LG Lancet and new HTC One M8 for Windows phones. Hopefully we’ll here more details regarding specific details surrounding Update 2.
