Windows 10 Universal apps getting taskbar notification badges

Windows 10 Anniversary Update will bring taskbar notification badges for Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps and to the Action Center button in the systray.

Universal apps taskbar notification badge in Windows 10

At the Build 2016 developer conference in San Francisco, Microsoft revealed improvements and features coming to the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, many of which are focus on improving Action Center and Toast Notifications.

During a technical session, the company also share more details on Toast Notifications and Live Tiles, including adaptive and interactive notifications, chaseable live tiles, Action Center improvements, and a lot more. However, something popped out in the taskbar that Microsoft didn’t actually talked about — that is the new taskbar notifications badges.

As you can see in the image below Tweeted by Microsoft’s Jen Gentleman, the upcoming Anniversary Update will bring notifications badges with counter to Universal Windows Apps in the taskbar.

The new feature will make it easier for user to get a glance of how many notifications they have on apps pinned in the taskbar, without having to open Action Center or the Start menu. This feature should look familiar, as it’s very similar to the app notifications iOS users see on their iPad and iPhone.

In addition, as you can see below, Microsoft is also planning to bring badge counter to the Action Center icon in the notification area (systray), which will also rotate to show notification counters for different apps with its respective icon.

Taskbar app notifications in Windows 10

While the Universal Windows Platform apps will include support, it’ll be up to developers to implement the taskbar notification badge on their apps.

Source Twitter (@JenMSFT), Channel9

About the author

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 14 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 20 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].