A huge update for perhaps the most commonly used Windows (mobile) application of all. Here's what's new in today's update for all devices running Windows 10 Mobile:
- Store has been rewritten - it's faster, smoother, and 'fast resumes at the last point you left it, at least if the application is still 'running'. Previously you'd be looking an application listing (or the Updates pane) and then next time you tapped on the Store live tile or application icon, even if you'd only used it a few seconds ago, the Store app would effectively restart, i.e. new instance, and you'd have to navigate all over again. This is no more - as with most other modern Windows 10 (and Windows Phone) applications, you're resumed at exactly the point you left it, provided the app hasn't been kicked out of RAM completely. This is a huge time saver if you dip in and out of the Store many times a day.
- Also in terms of speed, I noticed that downloads and updates were faster, again probably because there's new code under the hood talking to Microsoft's servers.
- You can now (at long last) use Word Flow to enter long application names - yet another result of the rewrite to use more modern code modules and APIs.
- The user interface has been given a refresh, with the 'Check for updates' button at the top of the appropriate screen - this gets round a minor UI issue whereby the button would be off the bottom of the physical screen if more than a dozen or so updates were already listed or in progress.
- In addition, in landscape mode, the hamburger menu itself has been scrapped, with welcome tabbed headings along the top and with account settings all under your (circular) user thumbnail, top right.
- The awkward resolution mismatches on the splash screen (for smaller displays) have been banished.
Nicely done all round, Microsoft. It's amazing that it took the company this long to achieve most of what's listed above, but hey, it's here now, so use and enjoy on every Windows 10 Mobile-running smartphone.