Microsoft removes MSN and most ads from Windows 11’s Weather App

Microsoft released an updated Weather application for Windows 11 last month to development channels.

The updated version turned the, rather basic, weather app of the operating system into a totally different product. The weather functionality was improved in the new version, and most users might have been satisfied with the update, if Microsoft did not decide to integrate MSN news and advertisement as well.

The homepage of the updated Weather app for Windows 11 looked like this. Users who scrolled down would get to the MSN news part quickly.

For some users, the update felt more like its main purpose was to push MSN news to yet another app.

Microsoft appears to have had a change of heart though. As our colleagues over at Deskmodder spotted, a new update for Windows 11’s Weather app changed things again.

The two main changes affect the display of advertisement and MSN news in the app. Microsoft removed all traces of MSN news from the Weather app again. Users who scroll down won’t see news articles anymore powered by MSN when they do so.

Even better, the advert that the Weather app displayed on its main page has been replaced by information about sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset.

The new homepage of Windows 11’s Weather application looks the following now after the update has been installed.

Advertisement has not been removed completely from the application. The hourly forecast page still shows an advert and so do some of the other subpages of the Weather app.

The latest version of the Weather app is 4.53.51253.0. It is only available for development builds of Windows 11 currently, but will be pushed to stable versions of the operating system eventually.

Closing Words

Did Microsoft listen to feedback? When the company launched the updated Weather app, it received a lot of criticism for it on various blogs, sites and in videos. The integration of MSN news in the Weather app made little sense and felt out of place to many users of the app.

It is unclear whether Microsoft listened to feedback or had another reason for adjusting the changes that it made. The effect, however, is that the app’s usability has been improved as a consequence, and that is something that most users will certainly appreciate.

Now You: do you use the Weather app on Windows 11?

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Microsoft removes MSN and most ads from Windows 11’s Weather App appeared first on gHacks Technology News.

gHacks Technology News