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Windows Recall is getting a redesigned homepage

Microsoft is making some changes to Windows Recall's interface. The app will display your frequently-used content and recent activity on the homepage.

Recall, as you may be aware, takes a snapshot of the content on the screen once every 5 minutes, and stores the data in an accessible/searchable form on your PC. The app has drawn criticism from users, security experts alike for potential privacy issues it could cause. Microsoft has made several changes to it over the past year including making it an opt-in feature rather than opt-out, and also added Windows Hello authentication by default, so users will need to sign in with their face, fingerprint, or PIN to access their data.

These changes haven't changed people's opinions about Recall, and the popular, secure messaging app Signal announced a DRM-like feature for its app, to prevent screenshots of the app's contents to protect the privacy of its users.

Recall used to list all snapshots on its homepage as a timeline, which you could browse by clicking on the bar at the top of the screen. This is changing, Microsoft has introduced a new homepage that is personalized based on your usage. It will display thumbnails in 2 categories: Recent Snapshots, Top Apps and Websites.

Recent Snapshots, as the name indicates, lists all your recent snapshots so you can quickly go back in time and find what you were looking for. The Top Apps and Websites isn't a category by itself, rather it is a curated view of the top three apps and websites that you have spent the most time on in the past 24 hours.

The primary way you can find snapshots remains the same, i.e. with the search bar at the top of the page. But, there's more. Recall is getting a new navigation bar that has shortcuts to your homepage, timeline, feedback and settings. The announcement says that Recall's homepage will be personalized after users opt-in to snapshot collection.

Microsoft has also confirmed the addition of the new setting to move on-screen indicators to the top left or top center of the screen. This setting will move the hardware indicators for the following options: brightness, volume, airplane mode, and virtual desktops.

Microsoft is testing the new features in the Dev and Beta Channels of the Windows Insider Program. Recall is already available for Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs, but is yet to roll out to others.

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