Action Center is getting some neat UI tweaks with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. During a session at Build 2016, Microsoft showed off an updated version of the Action Center, and revealed that the new changes will work on Windows 10, Mobile, and even on Android devices.
In the new Action Center arriving with the Anniversary Update will be powered by the cloud, meaning that all your notifications will sync across devices and even on Android.
As part of the new Action Center functionalities, Microsoft will be introducing “Notification Mirroring”, which is the ability to mirror all your phone notifications with assets (e.g., images and text) across devices and across platform, even if the app isn’t installed on all your devices. In addition, when you dismiss a notification from one device, you will be also deleting the same notifications on all your devices.
Action Center will also include a second feature called “Universal Dismiss”, which is similar one of the functionalities found in “Notification Mirroring”, but “Universal Dismiss” controls notifications when the app is installed on more than one device. For example, if you have the Facebook app installed on your PC, tablet, and phone every app will generate a its own notification, “Universal Dismiss” will send a dismiss command to all the devices once you remove if from one place. Whereas, “Notification Mirroring” handles dismiss even when the app is not installed on the device.
For Android devices, these new notifications improvements will arrive through the Cortana app and it’ll feature “Notification Mirroring” and “Universal Dismiss”. Microsoft says that it’s also interested on bringing the functionality to iOS, but there isn’t any information at this moment on when this will happen.
Widgets and tiles are other set of features also coming to the new revamped design. These are new elements that developers can inject rich-information into Cards, including hero image, app logo in group header, override app log, and complex layouts. For example, a weather application will not only be able to a quick preview, but with the Cards concept, developers can display images, forecast animations, and other type of interactive information.
Additionally, Action Center will feature a new mute button for those notifications you don’t want to see temporarily, and a new “Get app” button to get a needed app from the Windows Store to enable certain notifications.
Microsoft is expected to roll out the updated Action Center with the release of Windows 10 Anniversary Update later this summer for PC and Mobile.
Update, April 1, 2016: Microsoft has published the technical session video highlighting all the new changes coming to Action Center and Toast Notifications.
Below you can see an image from a technical session at Build 2016 that showcases the new Toast Notification in Action Center for the Weather app. If you pay close attention they look very similar to widgets you see today on Mac OS X and iOS.
https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/715988922942115840
What do you think about the new Action Center for Windows 10? Let us know in the comments below.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].