A new Canary channel release, Windows 11 Build 27718, adds two new widgets for the Clock app, Timer and Countdown. These were earlier discovered, but now Microsoft introduces them officially. Besides, there are some quality of life improvements and fixes.
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App updates
Timer and Countdown Widgets
Microsoft has released an update to the Clock app (version 11.2408.9.0 and above) for Windows 11, which includes two new widgets - Timer and Countdown. To add new widgets, open the widget panel and click the "+" button in the upper-right corner. At the moment, only participants of the Windows Insider program can access to these widgets.
Microsoft Store
Microsoft has released an update to the Microsoft Store app (version 22409.xxxx.x) to Windows Insiders in the Dev and Canary channels. It brings with it App categories. The Apps page of the Microsoft Store now has a new Categories block, located directly below the Main section. Selecting any of the categories will redirect you to a page with a set of apps that match that category.
Changes and improvements
General
[Reminder] New expiration date. Starting with Build 27691, the expiration date for Windows Insider Canary Channel builds has changed to September 15, 2025. Microsoft strongly recommends updating to the latest build.
Lock screen
Media controls now appear at the bottom of the lock screen when playing media.
Start Menu
You can now drag apps from the Pinned section of Start and pin them to the taskbar.
Taskbar and system tray
The taskbar now supports navigation by the first letter of an application. If the keyboard focus is on the taskbar ( WIN + T ), you can press any letter to quickly jump to an open or pinned application whose name begins with that letter. Pressing the same letter again will switch between applications that begin with that letter, if there are several. If you have taskbar grouping disabled, navigation by the first letter will take into account the window name, not the application name. And when you press the Home and End keys, the keyboard focus will move to the first and last elements of the taskbar, respectively.
Notifications
You can now turn off notification suggestions from individual apps. You can tap the three-dot button ("…") inside a notification to turn it off like any other notification, or go to the list of notification senders in Settings > System > Notifications and turn it off there (it’s called "Notification suggestions" in the list). Note that this option will only appear in the list of senders once you’ve received at least one such suggestion.
A minor change has been made to the Share dialog UI, which now removes the search box.
Narrator
Improved Narrator Scan Mode. This is especially useful when using Microsoft Edge and reading large documents. To use Scan Mode, you must first turn on Narrator (WIN + Ctrl + Enter). Then turn on Scan Mode by pressing Caps Lock + Spacebar during a Narrator session.
Energy saving
If your device's battery level drops to 20% and you have power saving mode constantly enabled, the system will display a notification prompting you to connect your device to a power source.
Windows Update
Minor improvements have been made to the design of the dialog box that appears when the user's attention is needed before Windows updates can begin. For example, this dialog box appears when there is not enough disk space or a compatibility issue has been detected. In addition, the size and spacing of icons have been updated.
Input
On the "Settings" > "Bluetooth and devices" > "Touch input" page you will find new options for controlling gestures at the edges of the screen. If necessary, you can disable them for the left and right edges of the screen.
Enhanced protection for administrative accounts
Enhanced protection for administrative accounts is a new platform security feature in Windows 11 that prevents users from having full administrative rights at all times and only enables them when they are performing administrative tasks. This mechanism is disabled by default and must be enabled through Group Policy settings. More information about this feature will be available at the Microsoft Ignite conference .
Fixes
General
- Fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders getting stuck on the startup screen and then rolling back to the previous build with error 0xC1900101 when attempting to update to a previous build.
- Fixed an issue in the last two Canary builds resulting in explorer.exe intermittently crashing when moving windows.
- Fixed an issue resulting in Insiders experiencing a bugcheck with the error "SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION" in the last two Canary builds.
Input
- Fixed an issue where the emoji panel would close when trying to switch to the Symbols or Kaomoji sections after selecting an emoji.
- Updated the logic for the "Press the lower-right corner of the touchpad to right-click" setting in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad so that it does not appear in cases where the touchpad does not support this feature.
Widgets
Fixed an issue where the Widgets icon would sometimes appear twice on the taskbar.
Other
- Fixed a crash in wmiprvse.exe that occurred in the last two builds for the Canary channel.
- Fixed an issue that caused some applications (such as Media Player) to crash when playing audio.
- Fixed an issue where some Insiders were seeing the OS selection menu incorrectly (on dual-boot devices). Colors could be distorted, and the menu itself could take up only half the screen space.
Known issues
General
[Important note for Copilot+ devices] If you are upgrading to the Canary channel from the Dev, Release Preview, or Stable channels on a Copilot+ device, you will encounter an issue using your PIN or biometrics when attempting to sign in. You will see the error "Something went wrong, your PIN is not available" with the code 0xd0000225. To reset your PIN, click the "Set up PIN" button.
Movies & TV
[New] Insiders can't play purchased content in the Movies & TV app. This issue will be fixed in a future build.
Input
[New] The emoji panel and clipboard history won't open in certain places in the operating system, such as Registry Editor.
The official announcement is here.
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