I’m on the constant Windows 10 update train, I’m even running the latest Windows Insider preview build 19H1, but I can’t ignore a long standing issue, Microsoft can’t seem to fix.
Metro apps first began back in Windows 8 days and those metro apps, received updates through the store. These updates were designed to be applied automatically, ensuring your modern Windows Apps were more like websites, in terms of currency. Developers could be assured that everyone was running the most recent builds.
Fast forward to 2019 and the Windows Store update model is still very broken. Occasionally I fire up the Store app to see if there’s any new apps I’d be interested in trying. Most times I’ll remember this issue and visit the Downloads and updates inside the app (available from the top-right menu).
Almost without exception, I notice the apps aren’t updating. Sure there’s 3rd party apps, that could be relegated to something a developer did, but often it’s Microsoft’s own 1st party apps that are not updating.
Just to confirm, the setting to Update apps automatically is enabled.
Microsoft Photos is a prime example. This is an app that has got incrementally better over time, but the whole app-auto update model is so broken that many users are likely not aware they’re using an old version.
In the worst case, a pending app update can actually break the currently installed app, while another frustrating issue is the app download will Error for no reason (sustained, high-speed connection the whole time).
There’s a lot of really smart developers who work at Microsoft, but this is an area that is clearly not getting the attention it needs.
In contrast, the apps stores on iOS and Android seem much more capable of achieving this, with apps constantly updated without issue.
When you get done fixing this issue Microsoft, it’d be great if you could turn your attention to fixing things like apps stealing focus (potentially a security vulnerability if you’re typing a password and it’s displayed on screen in clear text) as annoying things like being restricted to uninstall one app at a time.
