Windows 10 April 2018 Update: the 10 best new features
Microsoft’s latest Windows 10 update is arriving for PCs and tablets today.
it’s full of small features that improve Windows 10 without
dramatically changing the platform. Microsoft is only adding one major
feature with this update, and it’s the Timeline feature that lets you
resume where you left off across multiple Windows 10 machines.
Elsewhere there’s easy sharing, quick Bluetooth pairing, a
dictation feature, and the ability to mute tabs in Microsoft Edge.
Microsoft is also continuing to tweak and improve the Fluent Design
system it introduced with the Fall Creators Update. You’ll notice more
hover effects when you’re using your mouse in the Start menu or
notification center, and there’s a new blur effect on the taskbar. I’ve
been testing the Windows 10 April 2018 Update for months now, and these
are my favorite new additions.
Timeline
Timeline is the major new feature here, and it replaces
the familiar Task View button that shows what apps are currently running
on a system. Timeline lets you see what apps are running, but also what
apps and activities you’ve used on your Windows 10 PC in the past 30
days. These activities and apps sync across multiple machines, so if
you’ve been using a laptop for a document you can easily pick up the
same activity on a desktop PC that you’re also signed into.
You can also combine Timeline with Microsoft Edge for iOS
and Android, and access the smartphone browser history on your PC.
Microsoft is updating its mobile Edge apps to support this, and it’s one
of the main reasons you might use Timeline. If you’re concerned about
the privacy aspects of having documents, apps, and activity history in
your Task View, Microsoft disables the device sync by default and you
can disable activity history.
Dictation
Windows has had a variety of dictation tools over the
years, but Microsoft is creating a quick way to access the built-in
Windows 10 version with the April 2018 Update. You can launch it with
the windows key + H keyboard shortcut, and it will let you dictate into
any app. I even wrote this part of the article using the dictation tool,
and if you’ve got a good mic it works really well.
Microsoft Edge tab muting and PWAs
Chrome added tab muting recently, and now Microsoft is
bringing the same feature to Edge. You can mute loud and annoying
websites with this feature, and spare any audio blasting out of your
speakers. Microsoft has also tweaked the performance and design of Edge.
Microsoft Edge certainly feels better to use as a default browser with
this update, but it still needs work to truly compete with Chrome.
Microsoft
is also adding support for Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) in this April
2018 update. PWAs are essentially web apps, but they have the full
support of Google, Apple, and now Microsoft across mobile and desktop
operating systems. This could improve the Windows 10 app situation, and
we’re expecting to hear a lot more about PWAs for Windows 10 at
Microsoft’s Build conference in May.
Fix blurry apps
Scaling desktop apps has always been an issue in Windows,
but this latest April 2018 Update is trying to make blurry apps a thing
of the past. Windows 10 will now detect if an app is blurry because of a
monitor change or if you docked a laptop, and it will attempt to scale
it better to stop apps from scaling too small or becoming blurry.
Audio preferences per app
Microsoft is adding some great new audio features with
this Windows 10 April 2018 Update. You can now set the input or output
audio devices per application. You could have Spotify audio blasting out
of your speakers, while your browser audio comes through a headset. The
new audio settings let you customize both the input and output per
application, so it’s also useful if you use different microphones across
a variety of apps.
Quick Bluetooth pairing
Microsoft is adding a simple and quick way to pair
Bluetooth accessories. Windows 10 will now produce a notification to
quickly connect to a Bluetooth peripheral and pair it. Microsoft is
supporting its Surface Precision Mouse for now, and the company is
working with Logitech and others to ensure additional hardware will
support this quick way to Bluetooth pair in the future.
Windows Defender notification reduction
Ever get annoyed with those Windows Defender
notifications that tell you Microsoft’s anti-virus just scanned your
machine and it’s fine? Yeah, who cares. With the Windows 10 April 2018
Update, you can now suppress these notifications so you’re not told
every single time there’s a successful scan.
Nearby sharing
Nearby sharing lets you easily share websites, photos, or
documents to nearby Windows 10 machines. It’s not a feature you’re
probably going to use all that often, but it works over Bluetooth and is
similar to Apple’s AirDrop feature. You can share to devices that are
colleagues or friends nearby, and it’s a lot quicker than emailing over a
file. Nearby sharing is disabled by default, and you can set it to only
receive files from your own devices or everyone nearby. Hopefully
Microsoft adds the option to customize this further in the future so you
can only receive from contacts.
Focus Assist
Microsoft is changing and updating its do-not-disturb
mode for Windows 10 with this new update. Previously known as Quiet
Hours, Focus Assist is a smarter way of stopping notifications popping
up when you’re busy. Focus Assist will now automatically mute
notifications when you’re playing a game or projecting your presentation
to a screen. This stops annoying notifications during a gaming session,
or equally important meetings when you don’t want your emails,
messages, and other notifications being displayed to the whole
conference room.
You
can also let particular apps break through and still trigger
notifications, which is useful if you have a messaging app that you
still want to see notifications from while you’re playing a game.
Gaming changes and Xbox game bar
Microsoft is making some neat gaming-focused changes to
Windows 10 with this update. You can now customize graphics performance
per game, allowing you to set games to high performance or power saving.
This is particularly useful if you’re using a laptop that’s capable of
gaming, but you want certain games not to draw the best performance in
order to save battery life. The new feature is available in “graphics
settings” in the main settings app. Microsoft is also redesigning the
Xbox game bar so it now has a white or black theme with this update.
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