Microsoft Finally Releases a New Windows 10 Mobile Preview, But There’s a Catch

After a month of last Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview, Microsoft has finally started to roll out a new preview to the Fast ring. However, it is not such a sweet deal for everyone.

– Microsoft to take control of Windows 10 Mobile Software Updates

Windows 10 Mobile 10549 released to insiders:

Microsoft has released a highly awaited Mobile Preview build today to the members of Windows Insider Program. This is the first build coming over a month after Windows 10 Mobile Preview 10536.1004 was released. A barrage of problems kept a new Mobile build from being released to testers which have apparently affected this latest build too.

Microsoft’s Gabe Aul has shared that due a late discovery of a critical bug, devices running on the previous build 10536 cannot upgrade directly to the new build, as they will have to first downgrade to Windows Phone 8.1.

We discovered a bug late last night that caused phones upgrading from Build 10536 to get stuck at a black screen after this new build is installed. Rather than making you wait a little bit longer for us to fix this bug – we decided to release this build as a single update from Windows Phone 8.1.

If you want to try out Windows 10 Mobile 10549, you will have to follow these steps as outlined by Gabe himself:

• Go back to Windows 8.1 first using the Windows Device Recovery Tool.
• Once you’re on Windows Phone 8.1, install the Windows Insider app, choose the Fast ring, and reboot your phone.
• After that – this build should download and install on your phone.

If you don’t want to upgrade to the latest build due to a longer-than-usual process, you needn’t to worry as Gabe promises you will be able to install future builds right on top of Windows 10 Mobile 10536. To help with your decision of jumping the guns or staying with the older build, we are sharing everything that is new in the Windows 10 Mobile 10549:

• Cortana improvements: works for Insiders in Japan and in English for users in Australia and Canada.
• Messaging app improvements include a new text box that can be expanded as you enter text. The universal Skype capabilities will be brought in with a later preview build.
• Emoji: Support for Unicode’s diversity emoji which was first introduced with Windows 10 PC 10547 is now offered for Mobile users too. 

Windows 10 Mobile 10549 known issues:

• After upgrade, you might be missing a few apps. If you experience this, the workaround is to reset your phone.
• After rebooting your phone, you won’t see notifications, such as new messages, until you unlock your phone for the first time. After that, you should see notifications for new messages just fine. This bug is fixed in a later build.
• You will be unable to make calls with Skype for Business, WhatsApp and other apps after upgrading to this build. The workaround is to uninstall and reinstall these apps from the Store.

For more, visit Microsoft