It"s been some time since the last significant update to Microsoft Launcher, with Microsoft introducing a wide range of features with versions 5.0 and 5.1. Today, the company has announced version 5.3 of its Android launcher, and even though it doesn"t bring any ground-breaking new features, it includes a range of improvements to many aspects of the experience.
These include, for example, a new weather and time widget, and improved compatibility with Microsoft To-Do features. Here"s the full changelog:
- Time/Weather widget redesign- Now you can have multiple widgets in multiple sizes in multiple styles for multiple locations! Also check out the updated and more detailed L2 page with hourly and 10 day forecast.
- UX refinements to the Home Screen, Dock and Search widget
- Tasks card now supports "My Day" and "Flagged Emails" from Microsoft To Do
- News tab now supports "Technology" as a news interest
- Font type changed from Segoe UI to Roboto
- Work profile customers can now get access to their work apps
- Beta community link in Settings changed to lead to Microsoft Tech Community
The new update coincides with the move of the Launcher community to Microsoft"s Tech Community website, which has become the hub for all of Microsoft"s products and services. As mentioned in the changelog, the launcher settings will now link to the new website when trying to access the beta community.
While Microsoft has indeed announced the new update, it seems to be a staggered release and we haven"t seen it on our test devices. It may take some time to be available for everyone, so you may need to be patient if you desperately need any of the improvements included in this version. For now, you can download Microsoft Launcher from the Play Store, and the same page will let you sign up for the beta if you want to be one of the first to access the latest features.