It took almost 10 years for Windows to finally have a modern volume indicator. Since Windows 8 was released in 2012, black bars have popped up when you use a keyboard or other device to adjust the system volume. And now Microsoft is replacing it with a volume indicator that matches the overall design of Windows 11.
Indicators for volume, brightness, camera privacy, the camera on/off and airplane mode will all be updated soon with a more modern design. Microsoft’s Windows Insider lead Amanda Langowski explained: When you press the volume or brightness keys on your laptop, these new pop-ups appear and follow the system’s light/dark colors mode, giving you a more coherent Windows experience. Brightness and volume indicators continue to be interactive after the update.
In addition to this design tweak, Microsoft is also allowing the new calling experience to be tested in Windows 11’s Your Phone app. This update includes a new in-progress call window with updated icons, fonts and other UI changes that align with Windows 11’s improved design, Langowski said.
This latest Windows 11 preview build, 22533, also includes an extension of the touch keyboard theme to the emoji panel and elsewhere for all Dev Channel testers. If you’ve been wanting to uninstall the Clock app in Windows 11, there’s now an option to do that too.