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Here it Comes: Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones On Its Way
The wait is over - for some.
Rod Trent
February 12, 2015
4 Min Read
The wait is over. We sort of knew that the Windows 10 Technical Preview for Windows Phones would roll out this week. Some suggested that Friday would be the day, but apparently someone might be a bit superstitious, seeing that Friday is Friday the 13th.
Just a few moments ago, Gabe Aul, Windows Insider chief, announced that today is the day.
Okay #WindowsInsiders, you've all been patient enough. TODAY is the day for Win10 Technical Preview for phones. Stay tuned for more info.
— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) February 12, 2015So, get your Windows Phones ready by downloading the Windows Insider app from the Windows Phone store and keep clicking like there's no tomorrow. The bits will go live at 10am PT/1 pm ET. It's also important to understand that this release will only be available for those using Lumia 630, Lumia 635, Lumia 636, Lumia 638, Lumia 730, and the Lumia 830 that have at least 8 GB of storage and Windows Phone 8.1 was already installed. Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.
Okay, going dark for a bit. Need to go push a button...
— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) February 12, 2015Official signoff! Starting publishing prep. More details as soon as I can. pic.twitter.com/OR2HQxp04C
— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) February 12, 2015What to expect to see in the first build:
Full-size Background Image for Start: We believe phones should be intensely personal – so we’ve added another option to customize the start screen with a full-size background image.
More Quick Actions in Action Center: We’ve increased the number of quick actions available to you. Windows Phone 8.1 has four programmable quick actions – but with Windows 10 you also get an expanded view that can now have up to three rows.
Interactive Notifications: Notifications are now interactive, allowing you to take action directly like dismissing an alarm, or seeing images for maps. For example, for text messages, when the toast pops, you can quickly reply inline via text or voice.
Significantly enhanced speech-to-text capability: You can talk to virtually any data field you choose. Your words show up as you speak them – and punctuation appears automatically. This feature is smart enough to understand when to use ‘two’ – the number — instead of ‘too’ as in ‘also’.
More powerful Photos app: From your very first launch, Photos will show the aggregated set of all your local photos and all your OneDrive photos
Microsoft has now also delivered a blog post to accompany the Technical Preview release that includes some known issues.
Issue | Workaround |
|---|---|
Existing alarms will not be migrated to Windows 10 | Reset alarms after upgrade |
Wi-Fi settings don’t roam when phone is upgraded to Windows 10 | Manually set Wi-Fi settings when on Windows 10 |
VPN not available in current Windows 10 builds. Setting will fail to launch. Coming in a future update | - |
Additional language keyboards may not be present and may not be able to install on US builds after upgrading to Windows 10 | Reopen the Windows Insider app and re-select Insider Fast/Slow again. The download of keyboard packages will then work |
Photos app will fail to launch periodically when attempting to add a photo attachment to an email, OneNote or Facebook item. | Try again. Succeeds after a few attempts. |
Quiet Hours is missing the automatic rule that enables Quiet hours during calendar appointments marked busy. Also the setting “Anyone breaks through if they call 2 times in 3 minutes” us unchecked but enabled. | - |
Apps are not displayed in Battery saver after the upgrade. | - |
Access Point Names (APNs) in recovery images can fall out of date. For some phones/networks, this will block the cellular data and MMS capabilities of a phone when recovering back to the base image. | Before using the Windows Mobile Recovery Tool to recover, record the specific APN settings on your phone. Set manually once phone restored |
Cellular data not working while roaming, despite enabling data roaming | The setting doesn’t work the first time it’s enabled. Turning off and then turning on again will enable data while roaming |
Using a Bluetooth headset while playing back video results in low frame rate for video, due to a bug in the interaction between video playback and Bluetooth. | Use wired headset for listening to audio when playing videos. |
Sync to Microsoft Band doesn’t work after updating to Windows 10. If you have your phone synced to Microsoft band, it will not pair after the update to Windows 10. | After upgrade to Windows 10, go to Bluetooth settings, un-pair the Microsoft Band device and re-pair it. |
DataSense resets data use history on upgrade to Windows 10. | No workaround. Will calculate correctly after the reset. |
Trying to set lock screen picture will fail at times | Re-attempt the operation. |
After upgrade, tapping on “Playlist” from start screen or from within Music App fails to play music. Playlists are greyed out. | - |
Cortana tile and settings are missing on the start screen after upgrade | Go to app list and re-pin the tile |
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