First Edge 96 build for the Dev channel brings a few new features for iOS users and more

The first Edge 96 build is now out to the Dev channel with a few new features. Build 96.0.1028.0 brings some improvements to the iOS version of the browser as well, such as the ability to swipe to close tabs and the ability to restore tabs on startup.

The firm has also noted that the rollout of the new version of the browser that is based on a unified codebase is “almost” done, meaning that most users will have received the update on Android and iOS bumping the version numbers to their desktop counterparts. The browser is also heading to Xbox users as well, though, the company says that the version numbers might not match that of the desktop owing to the browser being shipped as part of the OS instead of a standalone app.

With Edge now following a four-week release cadence, builds are promoted through the development channels faster. Therefore, Edge 95 has already begun rolling out to Beta channel users, bringing view restoring to PDF, the new Windows 11-style design, and more.

With that out of the way, here are all the new features added as part of today’s update:

• Added a shortcut button in Settings to personalize the Web Widget.
• Added a Setting on iOS to restore tabs on startup.
• Added the ability to swipe to close tabs on iOS.
• Features enabled by default:
  • The ability to view downloaded Office files directly in the browser.
  • The ability to edit payment card information prior to uploading it to Microsoft Pay.
• Management policies from Chromium that we have enabled support for:
  • Control if the Audio Process will have High Priority Enabled, which is a temporary measure to work around issues with audio capture when the audio process is running at normal priority.
  • Set the Print Rasterize Pdf Dpi, which controls the resolution PDFs are printed at when printing them using rasterization.
  • Control the Print PostScript Mode, which controls the speed and quality that certain fonts print at.

As is always the case, there are a bunch of fixes that improve the reliability of the browser and addresses crashes. Here is the complete list of reliability improvements:

• Fixed a crash when certain popups open.
• Fixed a crash when opening a Shopping popup.
• Fixed a crash when highlighting text.
• Mobile:
  • Fixed a crash when signing into the browser.
  • Fixed a crash when using Family Safety.
• WebView2:
  • Fixed a crash when closing WebView2 apps while download popups are open (Issue 1723).
  • Fixed an issue on Windows 11 where updating the browser can sometimes cause files necessary for WebView2 apps to function to be deleted, resulting in crashes or errors when trying to launch the apps or the browser.

And here are all the improvements that have been made to address changed behavior:

• Fixed an issue where text annotations on PDF documents sometimes don’t save all the typed text.
• Fixed an issue where items sometimes fail to be added to Collections.
• Fixed an issue where overscroll doesn’t work when scrolling with a trackpad or touchscreen.
• Fixed an issue where certain Shopping features are available in InPrivate when they shouldn’t be.
• Fixed an issue where the Define context menu option sometimes does nothing.
• Fixed an issue where ungrouping a tab group can sometimes cause the tabs to become invisible.
• Fixed an issue where websites and apps can’t be pinned to the Windows taskbar.
• Fixed an issue where opening a PWA or website installed as an app sometimes fails or just opens a regular browser tab.
• Fixed an issue in Kids mode where Minecraft login fails.
• Mobile:
  • Fixed an issue where browser accounts are sometimes signed out after updating the app.
  • Fixed an issue where closing the last tab doesn’t automatically open up the new tab page.
  • Fixed an issue where the Top Sites tiles don’t appear when inputting text in the address bar.
  • Fixed an issue where requesting the desktop version of a website sometimes doesn’t work.
  • Fixed an issue where parts of the Tab Center UI are sometimes missing.
  • Fixed an issue where Favorites can’t be renamed.
  • Fixed an issue where page translation sometimes breaks interactivity with certain elements on the webpage.
• WebView2:
  • Fixed an issue in WebView2 apps where closing a download popup in one app window actually closes the download popup in a different window, not the current one (Issue 1688).
  • Fixed an issue in WebView2 apps where CreateWebResourceResponse fails (Issue 1706).

Lastly, there are the known issues that the firm documents with every update. In what might come as a welcome improvement, the deduplication issue seems to have been completely fixed, which is why it has been “retired” from the list of known issues. Here is the complete list of issues that still exist:

• Users of certain ad blocking extensions may experience playback errors on YouTube. As a workaround, temporarily disabling the extension should allow playback to proceed. See this help article for more details.
• Some users are still running into an issue where all tabs and extensions immediately crash with a STATUS_INVALID_IMAGE_HASH error. The most common cause of this error is outdated security or antivirus software from vendors like Symantec, and in those cases, updating that software will fix it.
• Users of the Kaspersky Internet Suite who have the associated extension installed may sometimes see webpages like Gmail fail to load. This failure is due to the main Kaspersky software being out of date, and is thus fixed by making sure the latest version is installed.
• Some users are seeing “wobbling” behavior when scrolling using trackpad gestures or touchscreens, where scrolling in one dimension also causes the page to subtly scroll back and forth in the other. Note that this only affects certain websites and seems to be worse on certain devices. This is most likely related to our ongoing work to bring scrolling back to parity with Edge Legacy’s behavior, so if this behavior is undesirable, you can temporarily turn it off by disabling the edge://flags/#edge-experimental-scrolling flag.

The new build has begun rolling out to Dev channel users in a staggered fashion. Those on the Beta channel can head to the About Microsoft Edge settings and check for updates to pull the latest Edge 95 build. Stable channel users were also served Edge 94 last week.