{"id":635838,"date":"2026-06-13T01:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T01:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/635838\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T01:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T01:28:10","slug":"microsoft-releases-major-feature-updates-for-stock-windows-11-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/635838\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft releases major feature updates for stock Windows 11 apps"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here\u2019s how it works<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Paint, Clock, Calculator, Camera, Media Player, Photos, and Sound Recorder are getting a lot of new improvements and features. <\/p>\n

\n

Taras Buria<\/a><\/p>\n

Neowin
\n @TarasBuria<\/a> \u00b7<\/p>\n

Jun 12, 2026 15:00 EDT<\/p>\n

\"Windows<\/p>\n

In addition to releasing new Windows 11 preview builds<\/a>, Microsoft announced that inbox Windows apps now have dedicated release notes in the official documentation. At long last, users have access to all the release notes for each app, with changes listed in chronological order. Microsoft used to announce feature updates for stock apps with each build. Now, with Windows Insider release notes hosted on the Microsoft Learn website, each app has a dedicated space for its changelog, which is very useful for those who want to track new features and improvements.<\/p>\n

Alongside that, Microsoft dropped massive feature updates for six stock apps: Clock, Media Player, Calculator, Voice Recorder, Photos, and Paint. Each app packs quite a lot of changes and new capabilities, so here are the release notes.<\/p>\n

Here are quick notes so that you can jump to the app you are interested in the most:<\/p>\n

Here is what is new for the Calculator in version 11.2605.9.0:<\/p>\n

\tMore accurate square-root results \u2014 Fixed rare cases where a calculation that should equal zero (like sqrt(2.25) – 1.5) returned a tiny leftover value instead.
\n\tReadable text in High Contrast themes \u2014 Settings text now shows the correct colors in the High Contrast Aquatic and Desert themes.
\n\tFixed layout for right-to-left languages \u2014 For languages like Arabic and Hebrew, the graph, number pad, equation fields, and scroll buttons now appear correctly oriented.
\n\tReliable launch after upgrading \u2014 Fixed an issue where upgrading from much older versions could leave outdated settings that stopped the app from opening.<\/p>\n

Here is what is new for the Camera app (version 2026.2605.7.0):<\/p>\n

\tZoom slider works on more cameras \u2014 The zoom slider now works on the latest cameras, respects your system zoom settings, and updates instantly when you change those settings.
\n\tFull range of zoom levels \u2014 Fixed an issue where the zoom slider only showed three steps on some devices that zoom in finer increments.
\n\tFront camera works on more devices \u2014 Resolved a problem that blocked the front-facing camera on certain wide-angle devices.
\n\tMore video resolution choices \u2014 You can now pick video resolutions that were previously hidden; the app shows a heads-up warning instead of removing them.
\n\tQR links you can still use \u2014 When a scanned QR code points to something with no matching app, the link is now copied to your clipboard (with a notification) while still offering a Store search.
\n\tSmarter default settings \u2014 When you haven’t set a preference, the app now follows your system settings by default.<\/p>\n

The Clock app has a massive changelog with the following improvements in version 11.2605.9.0:<\/p>\n

\tTimers keep counting after they hit zero \u2014 When a timer runs out, it now keeps counting up (for example, -00:27:31) so you can see how far past the time you’ve gone.
\n\tYou can turn off the daily goal \u2014 Focus Sessions now include an “Off” option so you can skip setting a daily goal entirely.
\n\tNew 15-minute snooze option \u2014 Alarms now offer a 15-minute snooze interval.
\n\tRun up to 3 countdowns at once \u2014 The Countdown Widget now supports three simultaneous countdowns, up from two.
\n\tTimer Widget notifications now appear \u2014 Fixed an issue where the “timer finished” notification didn’t show when the timer was started from the widget.
\n\tLess clutter in Focus Sessions \u2014 Tasks you’ve already completed no longer show up in the Focus Session task list.
\n\tMore accurate focus progress \u2014 Fixed a rounding issue that could show your daily focus progress as a minute short (for example, 49 minutes instead of 50).
\n\tSmoother World Clock comparisons \u2014 The World Clock compare page now loads dates as you scroll, so it feels more responsive.
\n\tUp-to-date World Clock locations \u2014 Refreshed country and city names to match their current names.
\n\tCorrect sun and moon icons during midnight sun \u2014 Fixed an icon that wrongly showed a moon during all-day daylight in polar regions.
\n\tFixed back-button behavior in clock comparisons \u2014 Pressing back once now takes you back as expected, instead of jumping the date to 1926.
\n\tCorrected the Newfoundland time zone \u2014 Newfoundland now uses the right time zone (St. John’s).
\n\tDisabled alarms stay looking disabled \u2014 Editing a turned-off alarm no longer makes it appear turned on.
\n\tCleaner timer cards \u2014 The expand button is now turned off on timer cards that have no time set, preventing actions that wouldn’t do anything.
\n\tClearer theme setting \u2014 Updated the wording to “Choose your preferred app theme.”
\n\tSmoother Settings links \u2014 The “About” links in Settings no longer trigger an unexpected “switch apps” prompt.
\n\tFixed spacing in Spotify settings \u2014 Corrected uneven spacing in the Spotify settings card.
\n\tBetter focus visibility in High Contrast \u2014 The focus highlight in World Clock is now clearly visible in the High Contrast Aquatic and Desert themes.
\n\tNo more double announcements \u2014 Screen readers no longer read the timer value twice.
\n\tCountdown names read correctly \u2014 Screen readers now properly announce the name of each countdown.
\n\tKeyboard focus stays put \u2014 Focus no longer disappears after you press the Timer Reset button.
\n\tClearer alarm toggle for screen readers \u2014 Tidied up how the alarm on\/off switch is announced.<\/p>\n

The Media Player app received plenty of changes as well (version 11.2605.14.0):<\/p>\n

\tCustom captions \u2014 You can now personalize how closed captions appear, with caption styling tied to your Windows caption settings, plus a quick link to open those settings directly.
\n\t“Indexing” banner in the play queue \u2014 When your media library is still being scanned, a banner now explains why some items may not appear yet.
\n\tFixed the look of selected items \u2014 Corrected a layout glitch with selected items in lists.
\n\tFewer playback failures \u2014 Improved how the app recognizes supported file types, so more files play without issues.
\n\tPlaylists need a name \u2014 You can no longer accidentally save a playlist with a blank name.
\n\tCleaner look for empty playlists \u2014 Improved how a playlist appears when it has no items yet.
\n\tMore stable play queue edits \u2014 Fixed a crash that could happen when changing the play queue while the app was switching between sessions.
\n\tClearer “missing codec” message \u2014 Improved the dialog that appears when a file needs a codec you don’t have, with clearer guidance on what to do.<\/p>\n

A big update is also available for Paint in version 11.2605.61.0:<\/p>\n

\tAdjustable eraser transparency \u2014 You can now control how transparent the eraser is.
\n\tCleaner stamp brush strokes \u2014 Fixed visible color shifts and artifacts when using stamp-style brushes.
\n\tJPEG photos save in place \u2014 Opening a rotated JPEG and pressing Save now overwrites the original instead of unexpectedly prompting “Save As.”
\n\tNo more crash on bad image files \u2014 Opening a damaged or invalid image, from within the app, by double click, or commandline, now shows a clear error message instead of closing the app.
\n\tClassic selection behavior restored \u2014 The selection outline now hides while you move, resize, or rotate a selection, just like in classic Paint.
\n\tTidier AI image panel \u2014 Fixed missing spacing at the bottom of the AI image generation panel for a cleaner layout.
\n\tVisible button hover in light theme \u2014 Toolbar split buttons now show a clear hover highlight in the light theme.
\n\tSnappier toolbar \u2014 Streamlined how the ribbon lays out, giving a small speed boost at startup.
\n\tFewer background crashes \u2014 Fixed a crash that could happen while background tasks were finishing up.
\n\tStable app shutdown \u2014 Prevented rare crashes when closing the app.
\n\tFixed layer removal glitch \u2014 Deleting the active layer no longer leaves the layers list in an inconsistent state.<\/p>\n

Here is what is new in the Photos app (version 2026.11060.2004.0):<\/p>\n

\tAI watermarking \u2014 AI-generated or edited images can now carry a visible Copilot watermark. You choose Never, Always, or Ask Every Time in Settings, with a confirmation when saving. The watermarking is off by default in settings.
\n\tBetter viewing of small images and pixel art \u2014 Tiny images (like 16\u00d716 pixel art) now zoom in far more to fill the screen and stay crisp instead of looking blurry.
\n\tSelect scanned text with the keyboard \u2014 When text is detected in an image, you can now navigate and select it using the arrow keys, Shift+Arrow, Home\/End, and Ctrl+A, with a clear focus highlight.
\n\tFixed a crash in text recognition \u2014 Resolved a crash that could close Photos while detecting text in images; the app now recovers gracefully.
\n\tEasier keyboard navigation \u2014 Tabbing through the navigation bar no longer stops on hidden controls, so it takes a single Tab to move past it instead of three.<\/p>\n

And finally, here is the Sound Recorder (version 11.2605.1.0):<\/p>\n

\tWaveform shows with Bluetooth mics \u2014 The live waveform now displays correctly when you record using a Bluetooth audio device.
\n\tNo more stray scrollbar \u2014 A non-working horizontal scrollbar no longer appears at the bottom of the waveform unless you’ve zoomed in.
\n\tMark button ready right away \u2014 The Mark button no longer looks grayed out until you hover over it after opening the app.
\n\tMarkers hidden for WAV files \u2014 Markers are now turned off for WAV recordings, since that format can’t store them \u2014 so they’re no longer lost silently.
\n\tSmoother deleting \u2014 Quickly pressing Delete and Enter to remove several recordings in a row no longer triggers a “file doesn’t exist” error.
\n\tFixed a memory issue \u2014 Resolved a memory leak that occurred each time a recording started.<\/p>\n

You can find all these changelogs in the official documentation here<\/a>.<\/p>\n