Microsoft Store introduces a separate download page and short-term in-app events

Microsoft Store users should be excited because Microsoft has just updated the platform with two big features that should greatly improve users’ general experience with it. The Redmond-based tech giant announced in a blog post, that these features will be available to Windows Insiders first.

To begin with, the library experience is improving. You won’t need to click through many screens to find apps and games that you possess but haven’t installed yet. A fresh search box is also coming up to help you locate the programs you want to download swiftly. Microsoft actually teased it a while ago, when Insiders found the feature was hidden in earlier Windows 11 builds.

The next thing is a new “Updates & downloads” page in the Microsoft Store that breaks away from the Library section. This means you can view your current downloads and pending updates all in one spot now, along with those frequently requested release notes. You can now view what is fresh or repaired without searching the web for it. But remember that this feature only works if developers have provided these changelogs.

Aside from the separate download page and official changelog, the update brings an experimental area to the Microsoft Store for short-term in-app events. This is a place where you can find out which games are having these particular events because of their partnerships with different game developers.

We are experimenting with a new section on the Games page in some regions that will showcase select partners with in-app events. We have partnered with game publishers to highlight real events that will be occurring during the test period.

Also, if you’re a developer too – the Microsoft Store badges have been updated to enhance trust and encourage users to download your app.

These updates will be introduced one by one, so if you don’t see them yet, there’s no need to worry. Microsoft wants to collect feedback before making them accessible to all users.

If you’re enrolled in the Windows Insider Program, the Dev and Canary Channels will be the first to receive these features. Please let us know your experience with them.

Also, don’t forget about the 2024 Microsoft Store Apps Awards: nominate your favorite app or even participate in the contest with your own app, and you might win a brand new Surface laptop—the Copilot+ PC version.