It’s no big secret that the current state of Windows Phone is pathetic. The user-base has almost become 0, apps are dropping from the store every month and to top it all, Microsoft is showing a lackluster attitude towards it’s own OS. Windows 10 Mobile is just one step away from being formally discontinued.
Microsoft’s silence on the topic has got us scared too. Ask a question regarding the state of the OS on Twitter, Microsoft Community or any official channel, you’ll receive no response or the generic “We are continuing to develop… blah, blah, blah.” No clear answers, nothing. The only “official” source which mentions anything about Windows 10 Mobile is the Twitter handle of Brandon LeBlanc.
Being the Senior Program Manager in the Windows Insider Program Team, LeBlanc sometimes answers queries posted by frustrated Insiders and users alike. While his tweets won’t give rise to much hope, it has the ugly but harsh truth in it. “Windows 10 Mobile is not dead”, he tweets and then subtly adds, “it’s not meant for consumers”(or something like that.
Nope. We're actively working on Windows 10 Mobile and continue to release new builds for it!
— Brandon LeBlanc (@brandonleblanc) July 13, 2017
While, LeBlanc’s statement has a grain of truth in it, there’s still no sign of any new features since the roll-out of the Creators Update. Speaking of new stuff, we didn’t quite get any with the Creators Update, barring the game-changing Share Icon(sarcasm intended). With the new builds, we still haven’t got the promised Continuum updates, no Night Light and the list goes on.
To further spice up matters, a little bit of insight further confirms that probably no new features will arrive with the Fall Creators Update for Mobile. Microsoft is hosting another Bug Bash for Insiders now through the Feedback Hub app. For those who doesn’t know, a Bug Bash is like a game where certain Quests are posted in the Feedback Hub. Each quest requires the Insider to test a certain feature of the OS and see if there’s a bug present in it or not, and report it through the app.
Interestingly, most of the quests in the Bug Bash are for checking out if there are any major bugs present in newly introduced features in the OS. For PC, it involves a lot of exciting quests, but for Mobile? Heh, not a single exciting one. The last Bug Bash in May was a joke for Mobile, with users being asked to check a few websites and other parts of code that was long introduced when the OS first launched. As for the July Bug Bash, it’s virtually the same.
The July Bug Bash is supposed to be the last one before Fall Creators Update rolls out for Windows 10. Containing a host of new features for PC, the next feature update for Windows will arrive during the month of October. No new consumer-centered features are planned for Mobile for the update till date and it seems that it’ll remain so. With Microsoft not pushing any new feature till now and with the Insiders not getting to test any in the Bug Bash, the scenario’s pretty clear.
Conclusion
To make the long story short, we aren’t getting any new features with the Fall Creators Update for Mobile. Remaining on the anemic feature2 branch, the OS will remain starved of the new goodies introduced in the RS3 branch for Windows 10. Whatever Microsoft says, the most we’ll get will be something like a new VPN settings page(Surprise!) or another new Icon.
Windows 10 Mobile is dead, at-least till it stays on the feature2 branch. The story may change next year, but then again, how many people will still be using the OS then?
