Microsoft Working on Major Changes for Windows 10 Magnifier App

While Windows 10 19H2 is likely to end up just a little bit more than a service pack for Windows 10, the more exciting update is 20H1, which as per Microsoft’s typical release schedule should land in the spring of 2020.

Microsoft has already started testing this new feature update, and the preview builds shipped to insiders in the Fast ring brought some very exciting changes, including some that haven’t been announced publicly.

One of them concerns the magnifier, which is apparently being overhauled with a new UI that aligns with the rest of the operating system.

Magnifier overhaul

As @Leopeva64 revealed on Twitter, in addition to a light theme that matches the new visual mode implemented in Windows 10 May 2019 Update (version 1903), there are also improvements concerning the behavior of the app.

“I use the magnifier a lot and today, after installing this build, I noticed another “change” that they don’t mention, the option to “collapse the magnifier window to a floating transparent magnifying glass” doesn’t appear, I hope it’s a temporary bug due to the changes they made,” the user posted.

Shou-Ching Schilling, software engineer and member of the Windows Accessibility Community team at Microsoft, confirmed that the company is working on revamping the experience with the Magnifier app and requested more feedback in this regard.

“Good observation. We are in the middle of making some changes to the Magnifier UI. Question: Do you like the transparent UI? What do you like (or not like) about it?” Schilling posted.

Needless to say, Windows 10 20H1 is still far away, as its debut would only take place in the first half of the next year, so Microsoft still has plenty of time to refine the experience with it and improve the update in a way that better aligns with the feedback.