Many new features and some old favorites arrive with Windows 10 but there are some things that are being removed. Two such features are the ability to sync Start Screen layouts and installed apps across devices.
In Windows 8/8.1 you could personalize your Start Screen with your tiles just how you like them and then sync your settings across all of your Windows 8.x devices. For users with multiple devices on one Microsoft account this could create a seamless transition from device to device. On the other hand it could create awkward rearrangements if your devices were different sizes. In Windows 10 there won’t be the option at all however so each screen will have to be individually customized.
You can also sync which apps are installed across all of your devices on Windows 8/8.1. This made it easy to download an app you use on one device and have it follow you everywhere. In Windows 10, users will have to individually install apps on their respective devices.
Richard Hay at WinSuperSite confirmed with Microsoft that these features are not going to be on Windows 10. Microsoft told him
“With Windows 8.1 and initial Windows 10 feedback we found that customers typically want to personalize the Start layout to match the device they are using. With the new Windows Store, scalability of universal Windows apps is fully supported across all of your devices. This means that customers can get their apps and settings available across all of their devices and still create custom Start tile layouts that make the most sense for each device and screen size.”
Anyone that has synced settings across devices of different sizes or used a second monitor that is bigger than your PC knows that when Start Screens are scaled they look very different. That being said, there are users who use screens with similar sizes or like how they sync across devices. Syncing apps also came in handy when you found an app you enjoyed and wanted it on all of your devices. It’s interesting that Microsoft didn’t keep an options somewhere to use these features.
