'Fast' Insiders get Redstone build 14342, a milestone fix-up release, plus Store refresh

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Very unusually, Microsoft released a new Insiders build of Windows 10 Mobile on a Monday evening, so overnight for us in the UK. And it's a big one, there are some significant bug fixes in this release, plus some extra features, such as being able to swipe to go back in the Edge browser and a facelift for the Store. Grab this update sooner rather than later!

From the Microsoft blog post:

Today we are releasing Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 14342 to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. We are excited to announce that we have added 3 new devices to the list of devices capable of receiving updates from our Development Branch as part of the Windows Insider Program: Lumia Icon, BLU Win HD LTE 150e, and BLU Win JR 130e.

Here’s what’s new in Build 14342

Swipe navigation in Microsoft Edge: Since the release of Windows 10 Mobile, our top feedback request for Microsoft Edge has been asking for the return of the swipe gesture to navigate back and forward. With this build, you can now swipe from anywhere on the page to get back to your previous page....

Feedback Hub improvements: We’ve heard from you that it can sometimes be hard to find which category your feedback belongs in. Now when you create new feedback, the Feedback Hub will suggest categories and subcategories based on the title and description you entered. If you see a suggestion that looks right, just click it to fill in the menus and get your feedback to the right engineers quickly.

Here’s what’s fixed for Mobile

  • We fixed an issue causing installation of mobile builds to fail with Error 80070002.
  • Language and Speech Packs should download without any errors.
  • We have fixed the issue causing DRM-protected content from services like Groove Music, Microsoft Movies & TV, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video or Hulu to fail on playback with 0x8004C029 or 0x8004C503 errors.
  • We fixed the issue where some users with some non-English keyboards were not able to enter letters such as w, y, and a when typing into the address bar of the Edge browser.
  • We fixed the issue causing your phone to lock up and reboot when it receives a notification from an app that has “Keep notifications private on the lock screen” turned on under Settings > System > Notifications & actions.
  • We increased font size and improved spacing of the data migration page after receiving an update.
  • Polished icons used to identify pages in the Settings app – in particular, updated battery icon to be more consistent with the weight of the other icons.
  • Improved performance when retrieving updated GPS coordinates while driving.
  • Goodbye message on shutdown will now remain visible until the last moment, to make it easier to determine when your device is off.
  • Polished the look of media controls on the Lock screen. When you press one of the media control buttons, it appears “pressed”.
  • We fixed an issue where some apps, including Tweetium, would crash on launch.
  • We fixed an issue where Action Center’s context menus would appear in the wrong orientation if the app underneath was in landscape mode.
  • We fixed an issue where Lumia 435, 532, 535 and 540 would fail to record video, as well as an issue where advanced camera settings were not preserved when taking a photo with the Lumia 435, resulting in the photo being taken with default settings instead.
  • Fixed an issue where the same device might be listed multiple times under Connect.
  • Fixed an issue where quickly pressing the power button twice when Windows Hello is enabled could result in the display appearing stuck off.
  • We fixed the issue where Groove Music might show an error saying “Can’t play – Another app is controlling your sound right now”.
  • When delayed lock is setup, Windows Hello will now say “Swipe up to dismiss the lock screen”, rather than looking for your iris.
  • We fixed an issue where Glance wouldn’t be displayed when hovering hand over proximity sensor.
  • We fixed an issue where multiple UWPs might start crashing on launch after getting stuck on their splash screen.

Known issues for Mobile

  • UPDATE: After your device reboots from installing this update, if it gets stuck as the Windows logo – let it sit and be patient. It might appear frozen but its still working in the background. While you wait, it is recommended you plug your phone in and let it charge as well. For more details – see this forum post.
  • We are investigating data issues with some Dual-SIM devices where cellular data doesn’t work correctly with a second SIM. Several issues relating to cellular data with Dual-SIM devices have been reported by Insiders with the last two Mobile builds and we’re investigating these reports.
  • Feedback Hub is not localized and the UI will be in English (U.S.) only, even with language packs installed.
  • We have reduced the number of instances where boxes are seen when entering emoji. You may still see them in some text fields – we’re working on it!
  • The Settings app may crash when you are re-arranging Quick Actions under Settings > System > Notification & actions. If it does, it could result in one of the Quick Action spots disappearing. If you see this happen, please refrain from changing your Quick Action settings on this build. If you have been impacted by this issue, only a hard reset will revert your Quick Action settings back to default.

As already reported, Microsoft has removed the Wi-Fi Sense feature that allows you to share Wi-Fi networks with your contacts and to be automatically connected to networks shared by your contacts. Many other sites misreported this as Wi-fi Sense disappearing completely, but the company clarified today with: "The engineering effort to keep this working great, combined with low demand for the feature made it not worthwhile to keep investing in it. Wi-Fi Sense, if enabled, will continue to get you connected to open Wi-Fi hotspots that it knows about through crowdsourcing."

In addition to the fixes and features above, here has also been a big face lift for the Store client, this should be offered after you update, in the usual way, though the Store itself, so watch for this.

ScreenshotScreenshot

The facelifted Store, here showing hyperlinked entries in the download queue, so you can jump to detail on any app that's queued (or even after its updated); (right) showing a new look for the Store home, in terms of panels and separation of information...

Of note is that the new Store client's 'Check for updates' is almost instant. It's unlikely that it really is this fast - more likely that checks are being done behind the scenes and that the button's now just checking the results of a background apps scan.

There are some big fixes above that will directly improve my life, not least being able to use Tweetium again! Plus the shutdown message thing always left me uncertain when powering a Lumia off - just how long should I wait before pulling the battery etc? So that's not a worry anymore. A great update all round, I think.

Anyway, the AAWP devices are happily updating, so we'll see. Please leave any comments on build 14342 below. Did this fix any showstoppers for you? Most of my issues with these builds are still a 'thing' and I have several non-working applications still.

As per all my recent charts and comments, note that Redstone builds are NOT available for the non-Win-10-approved phones (e.g. Lumia 920). no matter how many times you install the 'Windows Insider' utility and enthusiastically tap the 'Fast ring' entry.... The highest version of Windows 10, even unsupported, for older (mainly x20) handsets is 'Threshold' (the 10586.xxx branch). See my feature on all this if you're unsure where your phone will end up in Microsoft's roadmap.

Source / Credit: Microsoft