Windows 10 Mobile Fast ring goes to build 15228

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Another small bug-fix update (two build numbers over last week's effort), but we have a new ('feature2', think 'RS2+') Fast ring build for Windows 10 Mobile. As before, the Fast Insiders ring for Windows 10 Mobile is becoming less the 'unstable, early access' ring and more the 'more bugs fixed than any other' ring. There's clearly still effort going into keeping the core of Windows 10 Mobile up to date, in parallel with the internals of the Desktop SKU, and fixing reported issues.

From the Windows blog:

A note about app updates

In order to provide Windows customers with the highest quality inbox apps possible, we will pause testing new versions of our inbox apps with Windows Insiders. This means that Insiders will not receive app updates from the Windows Store for our inbox apps that are newer than the apps included in the build. Insiders may notice that some features we were testing in our inbox apps – including recent updates to the Photos app – will temporarily disappear. This is because some of our inbox apps won’t have all the latest new features without getting an update from the Store. It is critical that Insiders are experiencing the same version of Windows that will be released as the default version for all Windows users. Insiders will once again start receiving app updates in the very near future. As always, your feedback will help us tremendously to define the overall Windows experience and insure the quality of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is excellent for our customers.

Changes, improvements, and fixes for Mobile

  • We have fixed notifications (SMS, Calendar) with all Fitbit trackers.
  • We have fixed crashes reported while using Photos app.
  • We have fixed a deployment issue in where if an admin uses ActiveSyncCSP to provisioning email account on device running the Windows 10 Creators Update without providing a valid password, and the email server enforces a limited number of denied access retries, then the server will lock out the email account.
  • We have improved battery performance by fixing a bug in a scenario where 30% more power was used during Camera app preview and capture mode.
  • Some Insiders provided feedback that playing video on phone resulted in a black flash and/or stuttering when in landscape mode. We have fixed this issue.
  • We have improved Bluetooth connectivity with Garmin Wearable devices.
  • General improvement in reliability of phones by fixing top crash issues.

I should emphasise that the quoted changelog represents UI-level or major points fixed and that there are always additional small under-the-hood OneCore and UAP improvements and fixes which are too low-level to report in the Microsoft post.

See my feature on upgrade paths for the various classes of existing W10M handsets and the wider grid covering older devices, even though most of these won't be able to take advantage of this (RS2+), even with the Insider programme.

Anyone with an existing phone that's officially deemed Windows 10 Mobile CU-compatible by Microsoft can join in the fun - in theory. In each case:

  1. Head into Settings/Update & Security/Windows Insider Programme.
  2. Join the Insiders programme and choose the 'Fast' level in the pick list.
  3. Within a few hours your phone should be seeing the build mentioned above and you'll be running the Creators Update and beyond... 

Note that the popular Lumia 930 and 1520 haven't yet been 'provisioned' for this branch of Windows 10 Mobile. I tried - setting the Insider level to 'Fast' doesn't show up any of the recent 152xx builds. Do ping me if this changes, but I'm prepared at this point to say that these 2014/2015 phones may have reached their plateau on the Creators Update Release Preview ring, which will see critical updates through 2017 and then... no more after that.

See also my Windows 10 Mobile and the Future...

Source / Credit: Windows blog