Microsoft releases Windows 11 Build 25217 with support for third party widgets

It’s been a big week for Microsoft already this week as yesterday the software giant began rolling out new features to some Windows 11 2022 Update users, including tabs in Explorer.

Today, the company delivers a new Windows 11 build for Insiders in the Dev Channel. Build 25217 comes with the usual collection of fixes and improvements, but also introduces support for third party widgets.

As part of the WinAppSDK 1.2 preview 2 release the Widgets board is being opened up to more developers. From this build, creators will be able to create widgets for packaged Win32 apps and test them locally on the Windows 11 Widgets board if their machine is running in Developer Mode under Settings > Privacy & security > For developers.

Developers will need to be on the latest Dev Channel build to get the update for the Widgets Board. This is 521.20060.1205.0 (or higher).

There are some known limitations for this new addition:

• Third party widgets can only be tested locally on the latest Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel for this preview release. Once WinAppSDK 1.2 GA is out, users on released versions of Windows 11 can begin acquiring third party widgets via the Microsoft Store for shipped versions of their app.
• Support for third party PWA widgets will also be coming as part of a future Microsoft Edge release.

Other changes and improvements in this build include:

[Input]

• Microsoft began rolling out the new Tamil Anjal keyboard for the Tamil language with Build 25179 and starting today, it is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. To add it, make sure Tamil (Singapore), Tamil (Malaysia), Tamil (Sri Lanka), or Tamil (India) is listed under Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region, and then click the "…" next to the language, select Language Options, and add Tamil Anjal (QWERTY) to the list of keyboards.
• Microsoft has disabled the new touch keyboard setting that first began rolling out to Windows Insiders in Build 25188 for now. It hopes to bring this feature back in the future after further refinement of the design. As  mentioned previously, features Microsoft tries out in the Dev or Beta Channels may not always ship.

Fixes in this release include:

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

NOTE: These fixes will only show if tablet-optimized taskbar (documented here) is enabled on your device. Tablet-optimized taskbar is still rolling out to Windows Insiders and not yet available for everyone.

• Fixed the issue causing the taskbar to sometimes collapse when it should be expanded if there are no running windows on the desktop.
• Fixed an issue that would occur when using the left or right edge gestures resulting in the Widgets or Notification Center (respectively) to overlap with or look truncated by the taskbar.
• Fixed an issue that was causing the tablet-optimized taskbar to crash explorer.exe while switching apps.
• Fixed an issue that was causing the tablet-optimized taskbar to crash explorer.exe if you entered the overflow flyout.

[Windowing]

• Fixed an issue where the close button for window preview thumbnails in Task View was drawing slightly outside the bounds of the thumbnail.
• Fixed an issue where when switching between windows in recent builds you might see the entire window flash black for a frame while rendering.
• Fixed an issue causing Miracast video quality to be very slow and stuttering in recent flights despite having a solid internet connection.

[System Tray Updates]

NOTE: These fixes will only show if System Tray Updates (documented here) is enabled on your device. Tablet-optimized taskbar is still rolling out to Windows Insiders and not yet available for everyone.

• Fixed an issue so that Quick Settings items can now be rearranged with touch again.

[Settings]

• Fixed an issue under Network and Internet > Advanced Network Settings, where certain networks were displaying the wrong link speed.

[Other]

• Fixed an issue where remote desktop on ARM64 PCs was unexpectedly not using UDP and only TCP.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

Known issues include:

[General]

• Microsoft is looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
• Microsoft is investigating reports of a few different apps having started crashing in recent builds.
• Microsoft is investigating reports that various UI elements in apps appear to be disappearing and reappearing sometimes in recent builds.

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

• The taskbar sometimes flashes when transitioning between desktop posture and tablet posture.
• The taskbar takes longer than expected to transition to the touch-optimized version when switching between desktop posture and tablet posture.
• When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the taskbar sometimes stays stuck in the expanded state, instead of dismissing to collapsed state.

[Widgets]

• In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.
• Notification badge number may appear misaligned on the taskbar.

Image credit: ratmaner/ Shutterstock