Microsoft has finally announced the imminent arrival of support for the app restore feature in the Microsoft Store in the Windows 11 operating system.

The software maker will soon begin testing a new feature that allows you to restore apps on a new Windows 11 PC. Currently, the Microsoft Store does not offer an automatic way to restore apps, instead forcing Windows users to manually install apps from the library.

Microsoft Store General Manager Giorgio Sardo said:

To make it easier for customers to migrate to new PCs quickly and seamlessly, we’ll soon be testing a new feature in the Windows Insider channel that will help customers automatically restore their previously installed apps from the Microsoft Store to a new Windows device.

Restoring applications will be especially useful for users who frequently change computers, or for developers who regularly use virtual machines and multiple devices. Previously, Windows users had to rely on third-party package managers to perform these kinds of tasks.

Microsoft made an interesting announcement during the Build 2022 developer conference regarding the Windows 11 operating system – the long-awaited support for widgets created by third-party developers will soon appear in it.

At launch, Windows 11 only supported Microsoft branded widgets and more support was expected, but the company has remained silent until now. Previously, there were only rumors about such a function, but now it is officially presented.

As Microsoft notes, third-party developers will be able to offer their own widgets to Windows 11 users until the end of 2022. Developers will be able to create widgets for Win32 and PWA applications using the Adaptive Cards framework.

Widgets are small windows that display dynamic information in a special panel on the Windows desktop. There are only 11 widgets currently available in Windows 11, including weather, sports, games, photos, watchlist, entertainment, traffic, tasks, Outlook calendar, family safety, and tips.

Microsoft is expanding the geographic reach of its Android app testing program on Windows 11 PCs.

Back in October 2021, Android apps for Windows 11 finally became available to members of the Windows Insiders Testing Program. Then, after months of testing, they became available as a public preview and in a stable version of the OS, but only for users in the US. Microsoft today announced that it is expanding this program to more countries.

As a result, Windows 11 users in five more countries will now be able to enjoy Android apps right on their PC. These include France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK. Although Microsoft hasn’t announced a specific timeline, the company has noted that this should happen before the end of 2022.

The Google Street View feature turns 15 today. To celebrate this occasion, Google has added the ability to view street photos on mobile devices. This feature has been around on computers since 2014, but it’s only now being rolled out to iOS and Android.

Google is making an important improvement to the way it captures Street View data for Google Maps with its new camera. In the image below, it’s a new modular system that weighs around 7kg and is no bigger than a house cat, according to Google. The new camera can be installed on any car with a roof rack and controlled from a mobile device. Previously, Google Street View cameras required a special vehicle mount and sophisticated processing equipment to operate.

The new camera will allow Google to expand the Street View feature. Google says the new camera will be in use next year.

It is also announced that Street View Studio will allow users to quickly and bulk upload panoramic image sequences to Google Maps.