Skip to main content

Microsoft: Windows 10 Mobile Anniversary Update to roll out ‘in the coming weeks’

windows 10 mobile problems lifestyle
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The Windows 10 Anniversary Update is here, and it offers a fair amount of new functions and improvements. Windows 10 Mobile users, however, have been left in the dust again — but not for long. Microsoft’s Lumia India Twitter account has leaked August 9 as the date the update hits mobile devices.

The tweet, captured by Windows Latest, said, “Thanks for reaching out! For mobile, it will be available on August 9, 2016. If you have any queries, we’ll be here for you!” The post has since been deleted, but it’s safe to assume the Windows 10 Mobile Anniversary Update is coming soon, as the account now says the Windows 10 Anniversary is rolling out gradually, and it could “take a couple of days, and even a few weeks, for devices to download and install.”

Recommended Videos

While the August 9 date was leaked, we reached out to Microsoft and the company didn’t confirm the date.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

“The Windows 10 Anniversary Update will start rolling out to Windows 10 Mobile phones in the coming weeks.” a Microsoft spokesperson told Digital Trends. It’s a vague answer, and the “coming weeks” seems as though the launch may come later than than August 9, but it’s unclear.

The Mobile Anniversary Update introduces a new Skype app to the operating system. It’s the same universal app available for desktop users, but it’s a huge improvement over the previous offering. The Windows Camera can be quickly accessed through the lock screen, and the app also finally has a panorama option.

Cortana can now find your Android or Windows 10 phone, and the Settings app is now more organized and has gotten a slight visual improvement. Microsoft has also finally caught up with Apple Pay and Android Pay with Microsoft Wallet — though it only works if you’re in the U.S. and supported banks are limited.

Windows 10 Mobile users have been on the receiving end of limited support from Microsoft and app developers. For example, there was no mention of mobile at Microsoft’s Build 2016 developer conference, and the company has continued to lay off thousands of employees from its mobile division — though some of that comes from restructuring efforts after the 2013 acquisition of Nokia’s phone business.

Julian Chokkattu
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Julian is the mobile and wearables editor at Digital Trends, covering smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and more…
You have one year to safely use Windows 10 before you’ll need to pay
Windows 11 logo on a laptop.

Microsoft will be allowing consumers to join its Extended Security Updates (ESU) program for the first time next year, and it announced the program pricing today in a blog post. The official end-of-service date for Windows 10 is October 14, 2025, but by paying $30 to join the ESU program, you can receive an extra year of security updates. This will allow you to continue safely using Windows 10 until around October 2026, a full two years from now.

By the time support for Windows 10 ends, it will be almost exactly four years since Windows 11 launched and a decade since Windows 10 launched. It takes a lot of work to keep an operating system secure and running smoothly, which is why a company like Microsoft can't just endlessly support every version of Windows it's ever shipped. It would end up costing a lot more money than it made -- and that's not how businesses function.

Read more
Microsoft is forced to halt the Windows 11 24H2 update on some PCs
The Surface Pro 11 on a white table in front of a window.

Microsoft’s recent Windows 11 24H2 update is off to a bumpy start. According to a report by Bleeping Computer, users are facing compatibility issues across various hardware and software configurations, prompting the company to temporarily block the update for some devices.

The affected systems include specific Asus laptop models and configurations involving software like Voicemeeter, Safe Exam Browser, and older versions of Easy Anti-Cheat, commonly used in gaming.

Read more
Windows 11 24H2 may crash your PC if you have a certain SSD
The blue screen of death in Windows.

Microsoft's Windows 11 2024 Update, more commonly referred to as 24H2, is here, but it's not without issues. Reports from disgruntled users have flooded various forums, talking about constant blue screens of death (BSOD) that have appeared since they updated to the latest version of Windows. Although Microsoft has yet to officially acknowledge the problem, the users seem to have pinpointed the cause of it, and even found a workaround.

So far, it looks like these crashes are fairly limited in scope, as they seem to happen if you have one of a few Western Digital SSD models. Other SSD vendors appear unaffected so far. As reported on the WD Community Forums, users are getting BSODs with the error "critical process has died" ever since they updated to the 24H2 update.

Read more