Windows 10 Mobile build 10536 now available

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After a month (an eternity in 'fast ring' land) since the last major Windows 10 Mobile build (10512), it's great to see something new for those on the Insiders Programme. In this case build 10536, with the highlights being that the delays, two factor authentication and gesture bugs, plus the broken tethering, are all now sorted out. Plus a mountain of other stuff under the hood. See below for the official release comments.

[I'll have a full feature and opinion when my devices finish updating and when I've hammered this build in daily life...]

If you don't see the update and you're on the programme, try going back into the Windows Insiders application (which you may need to install again) and going through its set-up sequence again.

As usual, there's the dilemma as to how to handle the update, for those already on the Insiders programme. For previous builds the thinking was that a factory reset after the update, following by rebuilding things manually, with data syncs and Store installs, was the way to go to minimise glitches. However, with bugs being quoshed right, left and centre, I think it's time to backup using the built-in Windows 10 mechanisms (see Settings/Updates and Security), purely just in case, and then just let the over the air update take place.

If all is well then you're good to go, if it's not then factory reset and then restore from your backup. Either way, you shouldn't have to rebuild everything from scratch again.

If you're not already on the Insiders Programme for Windows 10 Mobile then see my detailed step-by-step tutorial here, though note that the two-step' hop' mentioned is now redundant, you won't have to complete as many steps(!) - see the changelog below for confirmation.

Your comments and data points welcome! In my case, the editorial Lumia 930 and 1520 updated 'over the top' just fine and everything's working perfectly. (Well, apart from the things that the Windows 10 Mobile team hasn't coded yet. Like Glance screen settings...!)

Note that the update isn't quite as simple as a single 'step'. Gabe Aul, from Microsoft, says:

Insiders updating from Build 10512 will need to update their devices twice. You will see Build 10514 and Build 10536.1000. Run these updates. After these updates are installed, you'll receive another update which will be Build 10536.1004. This process will take a bit more time than usual but this update has all the important fixes for Build 10536 so you will want to make sure you take BOTH updates. If you don't have a problem going back to Windows Phone 8.1, you can update directly to this build (10536.1004).

So allow longer than usual - on my test devices it was around two and a half hours!

Here's the details for this update, direct from Microsoft:

Here are some of the improvements we’ve made since the last build:

  • Insider Hub is now included again!
  • Mobile hotspot functionality has been fixed.
  • Voice input has been updated to add support for Japanese and English (India) speech recognition.
  • Single hop updates are again available from Windows Phone 8.1 to Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview for all devices.
  • Two-factor authentication is fixed when setting up a device for both text and phone authentication.
  • Start screen will successfully load instead of failing with “Loading …” displayed in a loop until device was rebooted. (We are still tracking down an issue were it may show “Loading …” for a few seconds.)
  • Quite Hours\Do Not Disturb has been fixed.
  • Delay in showing date and time on Lock screen has been improved.
  • Pinch and zoom in Maps now works as expected.

Updated Photos app: The Photos app has been updated to include features you have been asking for to help you do more with your photos. This update introduces a folder view that makes it easy for you to see your OneDrive and PC folders in the Photos app. On your phone, you can also see folders on your SD card. This update also brings faster photo viewing and context menus. Specifically, for phones, zoom and panning is faster, and we’ve introduced favorites. Make sure you’re running the latest version of the Photos app from the Store to see all these improvements on your phone (version 15.9).

One-handed mode: When we introduced one-handed mode for larger phones, we heard feedback saying many Insiders would like it even on smaller devices. In this build, we have also enabled the ability to use one-handed mode on all phones which can be enabled by pressing and holding the Start button. When you do this, your screen will slide down so you can reach items at the top of your screen. To slide the screen back up, tap the black space at the top of the screen, or press and hold the Start button again. One-handed use will also naturally time out after several seconds and return to your regular view. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Here are a few known issues for you to take note of for this build:

  • After rebooting your phone, you won’t see notifications, such as new messages, until you unlock your phone. After that, you should see notifications for new messages just fine.
  • “zStorage” appears in the Settings app under System and clicking on it causes the Settings app to crash.
  • Camera upload to OneDrive may not be enabled based on prior settings. To fix this, make sure you are running the latest version of OneDrive by opening the top left navigation bar, then settings on the right to verify that camera upload is turned on and you have the latest app (version 17.2).
  • Insiders will not be able to move from Slow to Fast rings temporarily; we are working on a fix but in the interim to move a device from Slow to Fast you will need to use the Windows Phone Recovery Tool to first start on Windows Phone 8.1 and opt directly into the Fast ring.
  • Additional languages for speech and keyboards won’t be available until tomorrow (9/15) and will error if you try to download. If you already have languages for speech and keyboards downloaded to your phone prior to upgrading, they will remain and available to use.

In addition, I noticed that:

  • Cortana and Windows 10 Maps now talk to each other. i.e. you can say "Navigate to 17 High Street" and it'll all hook up properly (at last).
  • The Microsoft Band now works with Windows 10 Mobile (though with the caveat that the Cortana integration doesn't... yet).
  • Photos now shows Lumia Creative Studio in its list of image editors.
  • OneDrive integration with third party applications now works again (I was using MetroPass as my test case).

As usual, after the update, your first trip into the Store may result in a bit of a wait while some of the main applications that aren't part of the actual firmware anymore also update themselves. Please do allow for this!

While you're waiting and downloading, make sure you've also read my 'Windows 10 Mobile a step-change, but ultimately needed on many levels', plus my recent benchmarking features.

PS. Microsoft did note, as per my hints, that the Lumia 1020 remains a special case and that Windows 10 Mobile Camera may in fact never support this hardware - sticking with the existing 'Lumia Camera' v4.x application is the only way to work at the moment, and - in my opinion - Windows Phone 8.1 for the moment. A revised Lumia Camera will be available in due course which will work more seamlessly on the 1020 with Windows 10 Mobile. Apparently.