Windows 10 Mobile is the next version of Windows Phone, and will be launching in preview form sometime this month. WinBeta has had the chance to sit down with an early build of Windows 10 Mobile running on a Lumia 930, and the first thing we noticed is the introduction of new tile sizes, which makes for an excellent experience.
In Windows Phone 8.1, there are three main tile sizes which you can use on the Start Screen. Small, Medium and Wide. In this early build of Windows 10 Mobile, there are 5 possible tile sizes, and the two new ones are Long and Large. The Long tile is new to Windows 10, whereas the Large made its first appearance in Windows 8.1 on the desktop.
We’re not sure what these new sizes are officially called, so we’re just calling them how they are. The new long and large tile sizes were seen back in 2014 with the early builds of Continuum on 9879. Said tile sizes has been removed since then in more recent desktop builds, however they are still present on the mobile side of things. We expect them to make a return on the desktop too once developers begin utilizing APIs.
Of course, since the build we tried out is an internal one, the initial public preview may not see these new tile sizes be available. However, we believe said functionality will be available at a later date, which is good news.
The new tile sizes are also only available to apps which support it, which means the majority of apps right now do not support such sizes. Again, support for the new tile sizes will be down to the developers.
It’s good to finally see more tile sizes arrive on Windows 10, as the three we have currently are wearing a bit thin. Will you be using these new tile sizes on Windows 10 Mobile or do you prefer the three we already have?
