Windows 11 Insider Preview 25217 brings third-party widgets support

Microsoft has kicked off a thoughtful and beneficial Windows 11 Insider Preview 25217 update for the developer channel (DEV). With a bunch of new and exciting features, the company has added the support of third-party widgets development.

Yes, third-party widget creation is the new and the ultimate addition to this update. Consequently, the new build rolling out for the developers will allow them to build and test third-party widgets. Besides, there are some input-related changes and fixes.

The new update also enhances the video calling experience for a chat app on Windows 11. Aside, there are also a few improvements for the gaming section and Game Pass services. You can have a detailed view of the changelog in the below section.

Windows 11 Insider Preview 25217 developer update: Changelog

New Features:

• Developers with packaged Win32 apps will be able to create and test third-party widgets locally if their machine is running in Developer mode.
• Make sure to be on the latest Insider Preview build from the Dev Channel to get the necessary update for the Widgets Board (521.20060.1205.0 version or higher)
• Addition of improved cloud suggestion and integrated search suggestion.

Limitations:

• 3rd 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 of released versions of Windows 11 can begin acquiring 3rd party widgets via the Microsoft Store for shipped versions of their app.
• Support for 3rd party PWA widgets will also be coming as part of a future Microsoft Edge release.

Changes and Improvements

• Input: Adding the new Tamil Anjal Keyboard for the Tamil language with build 25179. It is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.
• To enable click on 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.
• Disabled the new touch keyboard setting that first began rolling out to the Windows Insiders in build 25188. Might bring the feature back in the time ahead.

Fixes: Tablet-optimized taskbar

• 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) overlapping with or looking 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.

Note: These fixes will not only show if you enable a tablet-optimized taskbar on your device.

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 on recent flights despite having a solid internet connection

System Tray Updates

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

Note: These fixes will only show if you enable the System Tray Updates on your device. The tablet-optimized taskbar is still rolling out to Windows Insiders and is not yet available for everyone.

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 the 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 [General]

• Audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
• A few different apps have started crashing in recent builds.
• 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 the collapsed state.

[Widgets]

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

You can install the latest Windows Insider SDK HERE.

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