Option to save Windows 10 apps to SD cards on hold
Microsoft postpones a potentially useful feature for Windows tablet owners
Bad news for Windows tablet owners who are short on storage space – Microsoft has postponed a feature that would allow you to store apps on memory cards. Microsoft is set to release Windows 10 on July 29, but it seems some features haven’t made the cut in Build 10240, which has been released to manufacturing.
One such feature is the option to shunt apps onto SD cards, saving space on the internal storage, which can be as little as 8GB for those running the cheapest of Windows tablets. Windows 8 initially allowed apps to be stored to memory card, before the option was removed with Windows 8.1. Microsoft had planned to re-introduce the facility for Windows 10, but the option is greyed out in the Settings menu of the latest build.
An answer to a support query on Microsoft’s support site, first spotted by a Neowin reader, says the feature won’t be available at launch. “We have actually made the decision to postpone the apps on SD functionality to a later release,” a Microsoft spokesperson states. “While I know this feature excited many of us, we didn’t feel like it was ready for prime time. Our goal is to delight users with everything that we build, and we truly feel that that is what will happen once we have fully built our vision for this feature.”
The good news is that with Windows 10’s rolling updates, users may not have to wait long for the feature to drop. Microsoft now plans to release features as and when they are ready for release, rather than waiting for staging posts such as Service Packs, as it has done previously.
New app limits
Eagle-eyed Neowin readers have also noticed another restriction being placed upon Windows 10 owners when it comes to apps: a massive reduction in the number of devices you’re allowed to install apps on. With Windows 8.1, users could install the same app on up to 81 different devices – Microsoft making a somewhat elaborate point about the five device limit imposed on iOS users.
With Windows 10 that number has been reduced to only 10 devices. You would still have to be hugely invested in the Windows world to be using ten devices simultaneously, but it seems some of Microsoft’s app developer partners may have been spooked by the potential for widespread account sharing when you can run on 81 different devices without being collared.