Microsoft has released a new preview version (Build 22533) of Windows 11 for Windows Insiders, with loads of bug fixes, some features, and minor tweaks that will reach users of the stable version of Windows 11 later this year.
This preview version does not include many new features, but it contains one of the most awaited changes for more than 7 years, and it is related to updating the appearance of the volume indicator that appears on the screen when the user increases or decreases volume using the physical volume control buttons on the laptop.
The current look of this indicator, which is a vertical rectangle that appears in the upper left (or right depending on your system language) when controlling the volume, was introduced with the release of Windows 8 in 2012 and has not been updated since then, and it is one of the inconsistent elements with the interface design of Windows 11.
Now with Build 22533, Microsoft has finally made this change, with the company saying in the build announcement blog: “We have updated the flyout design for the hardware indicators for brightness, volume, camera privacy, the camera on/off and airplane mode, to align with Windows 11 design principles. These new flyouts will appear when you press the volume or brightness keys on your laptop and will honor light/dark mode to give you a more coherent Windows experience. Brightness and volume indicators continue to be interactive with the update”.
The result of this refresh in the design is a modern rectangular icon that appears in the center of the bottom of the screen when the user adjusts the volume.
This version also contains some other minor changes such as replacing the “Apps and Features” entry with “Installed Apps” in the Windows + X menu, and the ability to search for Voice Access from the taskbar and pin voice access to your taskbar or to the Start menu like other apps, as well as turn it on/ off.
A feature that was introduced in Build 22518, which shifts the widgets button from its original place next to the chat button to the far left of the taskbar with an icon showing the weather, has also been suspended.
Expanded touch keyboard themes to include the input method editor, emoji panel, and voice typing, which were introduced in a previous Windows 11 Insider build is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, and it is now also possible to uninstall the Clock app if the user so desires.
Finally, Microsoft is to roll out a new Calls experience for the Your Phone app on Windows 11 as well to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.
This update will be available within the next few days, and it includes a new in-progress call window with updated icons, fonts, and other UI changes that align with the improved design of Windows 11.