Microsoft just rolled out two new Windows 11 builds to beta channel Windows Insiders. Those with new features rolling out will see build 22624.1610 and those who have new features off by default will see build 22621.1610. The highlight of this week's beta release comes in build 22624.1610 which is getting new presence sensor privacy settings and APIs. Other than that, it's the usual bug fixes.
Note the company also released Windows 11 build 22000.1879 (KB5025298) to Insiders in the Release Preview Channel on Windows 11. Then, Windows 11 build 22621.1631 (KB5025305) to Insiders in the Release Preview Channel on Windows 11, version 22H2. Though both are minor.
Everything about build 22624.1610
Starting first with Build 22624.1610, there are the new presence sensor privacy settings and APIs. If your device has a presence sensor (many new laptops do), you can now manage which apps have access to that sensor. More specifically, the setting will be found under Settings > Privacy & Security > Presence sensing. App developers will also be able to target apps to request and read user presence information. The other changes in this release are below.
- Windows Insiders can help us preview a new experience we’re working on. Insiders will begin to see a new toggle under Settings > Windows Update for “getting the latest updates as soon as they are available”. This new toggle is meant to be used in the Beta Channel to allow Insiders to switch more seamlessly to the enablement package
- Fixed an underlying issue that was causing a noticeable increase in explorer.exe crashes in the last flight for some Insiders.
Changes and known issues in both Build 2621.1610 & build 22624.1610
Across both builds there's a single general fix relating to unsupported use of the registry. It's a compatibility issue, according to Microsoft. Other than that, there's a big set of known issues relating to search on the taskbar, the file explorer, and live captions. Check these out below.
- If you have the Bing button in the search box on the taskbar and you restart your computer, you may see the daily rotating search highlight for some time before getting the Bing button back.
- Shift + Right click on a file or folder is not opening “Show more options”.
- On ARM64 devices, enhanced speech recognition support installed through the Language & Region settings page will require restarting live captions if you switch languages in the live captions Caption language menu.
- [NEW] Live captions will crash on first launch due to an issue impacting registry data retrieval. A new fix is expected very soon.
Certain languages shown on the Language & Region settings page will indicate speech recognition support (e.g., Korean) but don’t yet have support for live captions.
- When adding a language through the Language & Region settings page, language feature installation progress may become hidden, and you may not see install completion of “Enhanced speech recognition” (required by Live Captions). (You can use the language’s “Language options” to monitor progress.) If this happens, there may be an unexpected delay before the live caption setup experience detects this and lets you continue.
- Captioning performance may be degraded in non-English languages and missing out-of-language filtering in non-English (United States) languages which means that incorrect captions will be shown for speech not in the caption language.
Release Preview channel builds
This wasn't all the Windows Insider action today, either. Microsoft released Windows 11 Build 22000.1879 (KB5025298) to Insiders in the Release Preview Channel on the original version of Windows 11, it brings the following fixes. Nothing major to note here, though, as it's mainly bug patches for core areas of Windows.
- New! This update changes firewall settings. You can now configure application group rules.
- This update affects the Islamic Republic of Iran. The update supports the government’s daylight-saving time change order from 2022.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) process. It might stop responding. Because of this, the machine restarts. The error is 0xc0000005 (STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION).
- This update addresses an issue that affects Microsoft Edge IE mode. Pop-up windows open in the background instead of in the foreground.
- This update addresses an issue that affects Edge IE mode. The Tab Window Manager stops responding.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Windows Remote Management (WinRM) client. The client returns an HTTP server error status (500). This error occurs when it runs a transfer job in the Storage Migration Service.
- This update addresses a rare issue that might cause an input destination to be null. This issue might occur when you attempt to convert a physical point to a logical point during hit testing. Because of this, the computer raises a stop error.
- This update addresses an issue that affects protected content. When you minimize a window that has protected content, the content displays when it should not. This occurs when you are using Taskbar Thumbnail Live Preview.
- This update addresses an issue that affects provisioning packages. They fail to apply in certain circumstances when elevation is required.
- This update addresses an issue that affects mobile device management (MDM) customers. The issue stops you from printing. This occurs because of an exception.
- This update changes the app icons for certain mobile providers.
- This update addresses an issue that affects signed Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) policies. They are not applied to the Secure Kernel. This occurs when you enable Secure Boot.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Windows Defender Application Control. The policy that blocks software using a hash rule might not stop the software from running.
- This update affects Xbox Elite users who have the Xbox Adaptive Controller. This update applies your controller remapping preferences on the desktop.
- This update addresses an issue that occurs when you use a PIN to sign in to Windows Hello for Business. Signing in to Remote Desktop Services might fail. The error message is, “The request is not supported”.
- This update makes improvements to the performance of the search box.
- This update addresses an issue that affects Administrator Account Lockout policies. GPResult and Resultant Set of Policy did not report them.
- This update addresses an issue that affects Active Directory Users & Computers. It stops responding. This occurs when you use TaskPad view to enable or disable many objects at the same time.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Unified Write Filter (UWF). When you turn it off by using a call to Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), your device might stop responding.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Resilient File System (ReFS). A stop error prevents the OS from starting up correctly.
- This update addresses an issue that affects MySQL commands. The commands fail on Windows Xenon containers.
- This update addresses an issue that affects SMB Direct. Endpoints might not be available on systems that use multi-byte character sets.
For Windows Insiders who are in the Release Preview channel and running Windows 11 version 22H2, you'll see Windows 11 build 22621.1631. The changelog for this release is similar to the original Windows 11 version, but we're including it below anyway for your convenience.
- New! This update changes firewall settings. You can now configure application group rules.
-
New! This update adds animations to a few icons on the Widgets taskbar button. These animations turn on when:
- A new announcement appears on the Widgets taskbar button.
- You hover over or click the Widgets taskbar button.
- This update affects the Islamic Republic of Iran. The update supports the government’s daylight-saving time change order from 2022.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) process. It might stop responding. Because of this, the machine restarts. The error is 0xc0000005 (STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION).
- This update addresses an issue that affects Microsoft Edge IE mode. The Tab Window Manager stops responding.
- This update addresses an issue that affects Microsoft Edge IE mode. Pop-up windows open in the background instead of in the foreground.
- This update addresses an issue that affects protected content. When you minimize a window that has protected content, the content displays when it should not. This occurs when you are using Taskbar Thumbnail Live Preview.
- This update addresses an issue that affects mobile device management (MDM) customers. The issue stops you from printing. This occurs because of an exception.
- This update changes the app icons for certain mobile providers.
- This update addresses an issue that affects signed Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) policies. They are not applied to the Secure Kernel. This occurs when you enable Secure Boot.
- This update addresses an issue that displays Task View in the wrong area. This occurs when you close a full screen game by pressing Win+Tab.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Chinese input method. You cannot see all of the first suggested item.
- This update addresses an issue that occurs when you use a PIN to sign in to Windows Hello for Business. Signing in to Remote Desktop Services might fail. The error message is, “The request is not supported”.
- This update addresses an issue that affects Administrator Account Lockout policies. GPResult and Resultant Set of Policy did not report them.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Unified Write Filter (UWF). When you turn it off by using a call to Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), your device might stop responding.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Resilient File System (ReFS). A stop error occurs that stops the OS from starting up correctly.
- This update addresses an issue that affects MySQL commands. The commands fail on Windows Xenon containers.
- This update addresses an issue that affects SMB Direct. Endpoints might not be available on systems that use multi-byte character sets.
Phew! That's all the Windows Insider action for this week. Microsoft has yet to announce a Dev Channel build, however. So, keep your eyes peeled. As always, these builds will be waiting for you in Windows Update. And, as a reminder, do update the Windows Subsystem for Android, too. It recently got support for picture-in-picture mode.