Windows 10 Mobile news recap: UWP Skype app, Insider build 14356 released

Michael Cottuli

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.

Skype’s long-awaited UWP has finally leaked out into the public, and it’s considered to be a large improvement over the version of Skype that Windows 10 Mobile users are currently accustomed to. While not all of it is working right now, specifically things like actionable notifications and even the ability to make or receive calls, it’s much prettier and more responsive than its 8.1 predecessor that we’re currently using.

Microsoft has been trying to get more developers to make an effort to create consistent, strong iconography for their apps. While Windows 10 may have backtracked on some of the aggressive styles of design that Windows 8 brought to the table, Microsoft’s latest blog was meant to inspire app developers to take greater care when designing the user experience of their apps, giving tips on when to use iconography and where to find icons.

Microsoft’s new head of the Insider program, Dona Sarkar, has hit the big red button to launch Windows 10 Insider build 14356 for members of the Fast Ring. The new update optimized Microsoft Health, changed some inaccuracies with the battery percentage reading, improved the glance screen, and fixed tons of other bugs. The update also caused a few issues, including some battery life issues and complications with dual-SIM devices.

The Computex convention recently happened in Taiwan, showing off all sorts of new goodies for technophiles. The HP Elite X3 was among the devices showcased, and while nobody was able to get their hands on the phone to play around with it (just a showcase for now, nothing hands-on) we did get a pretty good look at what we have to look forward to. This Windows 10 phone looks fairly sleek, and comes equipped with a fingerprint scanner mounted on the back for that extra touch of security for the cautious user.

That’s about it for this week. If you want to stay up to date, you can keep your eye on our Windows 10 Mobile tag for more news as it happens.