Windows 10 preview: Now Android owners can handle calls from their PC
An example of the new look for Windows 10 under Microsoft's Fluent Design System.
Microsoft has updated preview builds of Windows 10 to add notifications for incoming calls on Android, but apologized for limiting access to its much-vaunted Story Remix feature.
The 'Fast ring' release is the second new Windows 10 Insider Preview build since last week's unveiling of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and the new Fluent Design System at Microsoft's Build 2017 event.
At the conference, Microsoft showed off its smart videoediting tool, Story Remix, to give people a taste of what's to come in the fall update. New features include adding 3D objects to photos and videos, and drawing with Windows Ink.
Microsoft had said those running the Windows Insider Preview build released via the Fast ring would be the first to see Story Remix, but it turns out that only some will have access to it. As Dona Sarka, a software engineer for Microsoft's Windows and Devices Group, explained, Microsoft is instead rolling out Story Remix to a select group of Fast ring users, as part of A/B testing for the Photos feature. So while the "large majority" of Fast ring Insiders did get it, those who did not were selected for the control group.
While Insiders should be familiar with Microsoft using them for A/B testing, Sarka apologized for the omission.
"Story Remix is being rolled out to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring as part of A/B testing," said Sarka.
"As you can imagine, this is very important for us to get right when bringing new features to Windows 10... We should have been more clear about this up front last week when we announced Story Remix so we apologize for the confusion," she added.
The Story Remix team, however, is taking email requests from control group to switch sides.
A handy update in the latest Fast ring build, 16199, is incoming Android call notifications, a Cortana capability that delivers a notification to the PC telling you who's calling, with the option to decline the call or text the caller back from the PC. To try it, Fast ring users need to install Cortana on the Android device and enable Cortana's cross-device features in Android's Settings panel under 'Sync notifications'.
Other updates bring some of Microsoft's My People features to Windows 10, including animated emoji from pinned contacts, notification badges that display a count of unseen messages from pinned contacts, and the ability to drag-and-drop files onto contact in the taskbar to start an email.
Microsoft is also expanding its Storage Sense feature, which helps automatically free up storage space. In addition, a new toggle automatically deletes files that have been sitting in the Downloads folder unchanged for 30 days.