Microsoft is working to simplify updating apps in Windows 11
A hatred of having to use the Microsoft Store to update many Windows 11 apps is far from being a unique experience. Thankfully, it looks as though Microsoft is working to make some improvements in this area to help alleviate some of the annoyance.
The latest Insider builds of Windows 11 have been found to include an "app updates" page in the Settings app. This, assuming it becomes a mainstream feature, will make life a lot easier for Windows 11 users.
The arrival of this new App Update page in the Apps section of Settings was spotted by Windows Central. The ability to manage updates for both Windows itself and the apps that are installed from the same place makes a lot of sense from a streamlined workflow point of view. It is also in line with a vision that Microsoft set out earlier in the year.
Updates across the Windows ecosystem can feel like a fragmented experience for IT admins managing applications that have their own update orchestrators (e.g., line of business) and commercial management tools that handle their own download, install, restart, and notifications today. To solve this, we're building a vision for a unified, intelligent update orchestration platform capable of supporting any update (apps, drivers, etc.) to be orchestrated alongside Windows updates.
The App Updates screen would very much seem to be the implementation of a previously stated plan, although at the time it was not clear quite what form things would take.
In addition to making sense, the consolidation of updates into one place has an added benefit. If there is no need to use the Microsoft Store to keep apps up to date, that is one less reason to have the Microsoft Store app installed in the first place – so you can go ahead and remove it if you want without having to worry about this course of action leaving you with flakey apps.
How does this change land with you? Does this feel like a sensible idea to you? Will you be one of the people who ditches the Microsoft Store app as a result?