Windows 11 build 22567 outs with new features

Windows 11 build 22567 rolls out with new features in the Dev Channel.
The update introduces new “Open With” UI, new touch animations, tweaks on Settings.
Build 22567 also brings changes to Windows Update to minimize carbon emissions.
And there’s a new Smart App Control feature.

As part of the Dev Channel development, Microsoft is rolling out Windows 11 build 22567 with new features, visual improvements, fixes, and a handful of known issues.

Build 22567 for Windows 11, according to the official changelogs, introduces changes to install updates during hours that lower carbon emissions. You will also find improvements for the “Your Microsoft account” settings page. You can now link your phone during the initial setup. And there’s a new security feature known as “Smart App Control.”

Furthermore, this flight introduces a new “Open With” interface that follows the design language of Windows 11 and more.

Build 22567 for Windows 11 new features

Here are all the new features and improvements for the latest release of Windows 11 in the Dev Channel:

Start menu changes

When you hover one pinned app icon over another, a subtle animation will hint that this will create a folder.

Touch gestures

On build 22567, Microsoft is also updating multi-finger touch gestures to include responsive and delightful animations that follow your finger.

Three fingers to swipe down (Source: Microsoft)

New “Open With” dialog box

Windows 11 updates the “Open with” dialog box in this rollout to align with the new design language. Microsoft has also simplified the experience by making it possible to update your default app with just one click.

Windows Update energy tweaks

Starting with build 22567, Windows Update will schedule automatic updates during times that will result in lower carbon emissions. According to the company, electrical grids supply power from various sources, including renewables and fossil fuels. In this update, Windows 11 will prioritize installing updates when more clean energy is being used, such as wind, solar, and hydro.

Carbon emissions message (Source: Microsoft)

The new energy-efficient feature will only be available when the computer is connected, and regional carbon intensity data is available from our partners “electricityMap” or “WattTime.” You would be able to tell if it’s enabled because you will see the “Windows Update is committed to helping reduce carbon emissions” message on the Windows Update page.

Settings app tweaks

As usual, the Setting app is getting new tweaks, including updates to pages across the Settings app to adopt WinUI controls for a consistent look and feel.

You will also notice improvements to searching settings, and you can now mute and unmute your audio by clicking the volume icon in the hardware indicator for volume.

Accounts settings changes

In this flight and moving forward, the “Your Microsoft account” information will appear in the “Accounts” section of the Settings app instead of having its dedicated page.

This new section will display your Microsoft 365 subscription information, including payment information and an alert when you need to update your billing information, the people you are sharing the subscription, and OneDrive data usage.

Microsoft account (paid) (Source: Microsoft)

If you don’t have a subscription, you will see the OneDrive storage usage and the benefits to lure you into getting a subscription.

Microsoft account info (free) (Source: Microsoft)

Voice Typing improvements

The Voice Typing feature introduces a few commands, including:

To Enter – Say “Press Enter.”
To Backspace – Say “Pres Backspace,” “Backspace.”
To Space – Say “Press space,” “Insert Space.”
To Tab – Say “Press Tab,” “Tab.”

Windows Sandbox

Windows Sandbox mapped folders now support relative paths. For example, ..\relative\folder...

Smart App Control

Smart App Control (SAC) is a new security feature available through the Windows Security app to block untrusted or potentially dangerous applications.

You first need to configure SAC in evaluation mode. While in evaluation mode, it will learn if it can help protect the device without getting in your way. If so, it will automatically enable itself. Otherwise, it will automatically disable itself. While in evaluation mode, a user can manually turn on SAC in the Windows Security app under the App & Browser Control section.

Out-of-box experience (OOBE)

The Windows 11 initial setup (also known as the out-of-box experience) is getting a new section that lets you link your Android phone to your computer. This feature will allow you to access your text messages, photos, mobile apps and make calls without unlocking your phone.

Android phone link in OOBE (Source: Microsoft)

General fixes for build 22567

In addition to the new features and improvements, Windows 11 build 22567 also ships with a bunch of improvements for the Taskbar, Start menu, Settings, File Explorer, and more.

Taskbar

Using the taskbar to bring an already running app to the foreground should work more reliably now.

Fixed an issue where if you changed time zone the calendar flyout wouldn’t update to reflect a date change.

Using Narrator key plus Enter or Narrator touch gestures should now work to activate items in the taskbar now.

Mitigated an issue that was causing windows to be able to draw on top of the taskbar after dismissing one of the taskbar flyouts.

The taskbar setting has been changed to “Optimize taskbar for touch interactions when this device is used as a tablet”.

Microsoft has improved the mouse click reliability of system tray icons.

Start menu

Fixed an issue affecting the reliability of the Start menu opening.

Fixed an issue where dragging a pinned app icon between pages of pinned apps wasn’t working.

Addressed an alignment issue with the More button.

File Explorer

Clicking the buttons in the new OneDrive flyout should now bring those objects into foreground focus.

Star rating supported files (for example mp4 files) should work again now.

Fixed an issue that could cause explorer.exe to crash when opening the context menu sometimes.

Improved the performance of displaying the content in the Recycle Bin in cases where there were many files.

Addressed an underlying crash that was happening when trying to start a search from File Explorer, impacting the ability to search.

Fixed a rare issue for people with small screens where the context menu in File Explorer would animate downwards, disappear, then immediately reappear animating upwards.

Input

Improved input switching responsiveness when using WIN + Space.

Fixed an issue that was leading to some Insiders seeing black text on dark background in the input switcher.

Addressed an issue where the Japanese IME toolbar could become transparent, and the IME candidate window clipped or not displayed at all.

If you’re using the Japanese IME with a vertical candidate list, the text should now appear written in the correct direction.

Updated the icon used for hiding keypress visuals in the touch keyboard when the focus is set to a password field to help make it easier to understand.

Fixed an issue where the new “Press Backspace” command when voice typing wasn’t working in Japanese.

Mitigated an issue that was causing Narrator focus to get stuck in the wrong place after inserting an emoji and dismissing the emoji panel.

Settings

Items in the app list under Apps > Installed apps should no longer overlap each other.

Fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to select the restart now button in Settings > Windows Update using touch.

Windowing

Explorer.exe shouldn’t crash anymore when dragging a window between monitors.

If you’re hovering over a Desktop thumbnail in Task View, the tooltip should now actually match the one you’re hovering over.

Fixed an issue where snap assist might unexpectedly trigger when you already had a window snapped in that area.

Improved reliability of invoking snap layouts at the top of the screen.

Task View should now successfully launch if you invoke it while the search flyout from the taskbar is open, rather than invoking and immediately dismissing.

Voice Access

Fixed an issue that was causing Outlook to scroll to the beginning of your emails if you enabled voice access and started talking.

Button text in voice access will no longer be cut off when you’ve changed your text size.

Fixed an issue that was preventing voice access from launching on ARM64 devices.

Voice access will no longer turn on after you log in unless the voice access setting is also turned on.

Live captions

Fixed an issue that was causing Outlook to scroll to the beginning of your emails if you enabled voice access and started talking.

Button text in voice access will no longer be cut off when you’ve changed your text size.

Fixed an issue that was preventing voice access from launching on ARM64 devices.

Voice access will no longer turn on after you log in unless the voice access setting is also turned on.

Narrator

Fixed an issue causing high CPU usage while using Narrator.

Narrator will now read out the theme as well as the selection state in Settings > Personalization > Text input > Theme.

When a dialog pops up, Narrator will now consistently announce that it’s reading from a dialog when reading its message.

When using Microsoft Edge’s History page, Narrator will now announce the name of the page and the focused element correctly.

Fixed an underlying issue that was impacting Narrator keyboard navigation in webview2 in certain apps.

Updated Braille display input and output table type dropdowns in Settings to have a default value now.

Fixed an issue that was causing Narrator to hang when using Norton Power Eraser.

If you Review > Check Accessibility in Excel, Narrator will now read the errors, warnings, tips & intelligent services section correctly.

Task Manager

The suspended and efficiency mode icons should no longer be clipped in Task Manager at high DPIs.

Fixed an issue where column preferences weren’t being preserved.

The default start page and always on top settings should work now.

When there’s nothing to show under the “…” menu, it won’t display now.

Mitigated a crash that was happening sometimes when trying to launch Task Manager.

Fixed an issue where Efficiency mode icons were missing on some child processes.

Fixed an issue where some settings options were not preserved.

Fixed an issue where Suspended and Efficiency mode icons were clipped when displayed on monitors with high DPI settings.

Lock and Sign-in screens

Fixed an issue causing the accessibility flyout on the Lock screen to flicker.

The accessibility flyout on the Lock screen’s location and spacing should now be centered and consistent with the design of other options on this screen.

Fixed the border of the accessibility flyout on the Lock screen to show correctly in high contrast mode.

Addressed an encoding issue in the message text when using a security key to log in.

Mitigated an explorer.exe crash some Insiders were seeing when logging into their PC.

Other fixes

Notification Center will now close when you start a focus session, and the focus timer opens instead of you having to dismiss it.

Fixed an issue that was impacting the ability to open Quick Settings and Notification Center when animations were disabled.

Quick Settings and Notification Center should dismiss more reliably now if you had used a gesture to invoke them before trying to dismiss them.

Fixed an issue relating to the UiaDisconnectProvider API which was causing certain apps to crash.

Mitigated a bug check which was happening in the last few flights for Insiders with more than 8 monitors connected.

If you have pinned an app to the taskbar within Windows Sandbox, clicking the app to launch it will now actually work.

In addition to these new features and improvements, Microsoft is also detailing many fixes and known issues that Insiders need to know before upgrading their devices.

Install Windows 11 build 22567

If you want to download and install the Windows 11 build 22567, you need to enroll your device in the Dev Channel using the “Windows Insider Program” settings from the “Update & Security” section.

Once you enroll the computer in the program, you can download build 22567 from the “Windows Update” settings by clicking the Check for Updates button. However, you will need a device that meets the minimum system requirements to receive the update if you are new to the Windows Insider Program.

Update March 4, 2022: Microsoft is now rolling out build 22567.100 as update KB5012427. However, the update does not include anything new, it’s only designed to test the update mechanism through the Dev Channel.