Following our criticism of the outdated maps used in Windows 10 Maps, Microsoft has now got back to AAWP officially, so see the statement below. Summary? They know that the licensed HERE maps are stale, but there have been some fundamental platform updates which required rework, and they hope to be back on track by the 'summer' (of 2018).
Yes, yes, it's been almost a year since I posted here about testing the 'closed beta' of Podcast Lounge UWP, but I can exclusively reveal that it's finally now available here in the Store, as an 'open beta'. This was most people's favourite podcatcher for Windows Phone 8.1 and I'm delighted to report that it works very well, if a little belatedly, under Windows 10 Mobile.
People think of our OS being dead. Not quite. We're still looking at over a year of support in terms of monthly patches and fixes for Windows 10 Mobile Fall Creators Update. And build 15254.313 (from .248) is fresh out today (better late than never!), so go grab it for all phones currently on the 'Fall Creators Update'.
With our re-jigged application directories (see the new Windows 10 UWP one), it's natural to also update the AAWP Universal app too, which offers quick access to our application and game directories, see the notes, links and screenshots below.
Around six months ago, Microsoft quoted "28 months" as the supported period for each Windows 10 branch, but this figure seems to have been somewhat nebulous and - recently - truncated, judging from the official web site as it is now. At various points (I have screenshot proof), support has been "42 months", then "28 months", and now "18 months". Which is fair enough for the Desktop, but slightly more critical for Mobile...
Well, it had to happen eventually, though it's still sad to see Microsoft finally drop the Insider build provisioning for old devices which topped out at the Anniversary Update (AU), from 2016. This back door was used until recently by all and sundry to get older phones* up from Windows 10 Mobile AU up to the Creators Update (CU, Spring 2017), giving them an extra six months of full support (up to Summer 2019). Stuck on AU, these older phones will run out of security patches and bug fixes before the end of 2018.
Surprising everyone, this month's 'February update for branch 1709' from Microsoft includes new Windows Hello code that completely fixes the fingerprint recognition issues that the Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro has had since launch.
People think of our OS being dead. Not quite. We're still looking at (up to) two years of support in terms of monthly patches and fixes for Windows 10 Mobile. And build 15254.248 (from .158) is fresh out today, so go grab it for all phones currently on the 'Fall Creators Update'.
With the switch/focus at Microsoft away from Windows 10 Mobile 'Insiders' test builds, using these rings to try out advance versions of core UWP applications is also now outdated. Or so evidence from the Microsoft Store suggests.
As widely reported around the web today, one of the Microsoft Insiders programme team has confirmed what many people suspected would happen as we got close to the formal release of 'Redstone 4' (for which there is no mobile equivalent under any name) - no more development Insiders builds are planned for Mobile. Here's what this means...
