Microsoft wants to fix app updates on Windows 11 — previews new update orchestrator platform designed make updates invisible

Microsoft has started previewing a new feature coming soon to Windows 11 that is designed to streamline the ability to update your apps. The new feature is called the Update Orchestrator Platform, and is an opt-in experience that developers can choose to lean on to improve the updatability of their apps.

"UOP makes app updates more consistent and predictable, with fewer interruptions" Microsoft explains. The feature introduces APIs for developers to integrate with their apps, which will then lean on the UOP framework to trigger the app to "scan, download and install updates based on user activity and system state."

These apps will continue to use their own content delivery networks for issuing and hosting app updates, but the OS is now capable of managing the checking for and pulling said update when the user requests it, or when the system deems it viable to install an app update without interrupting the user.

Microsoft is adding a new "app updates" page which will be where users can go to see if an app has recently been updated, and can also initiate a manual trigger to check for updates for all the apps installed that support the unified orchestrator platform.

"No apps utilize UOP yet because the feature is new, but apps will start using it over time," says Microsoft. "The feature is partially enabled for Dev and Beta Channel Insiders today and will reach full enablement in these channels soon. API documentation will follow."

The company has been working hard to improve the update experience on Windows 11 for a number of months. These days, most mainstream apps are available via the Microsoft Store, and remain update to date seamlessly in the background thanks to the Store's automatic update system.

Windows Updates are also much faster and more streamlined these days, with smaller downloads and install times for major version updates (some of the time.) The new unified orchestrator platform is just another avenue for making updates simpler on Windows 11, and should hopefully make keeping all your apps up to date easier, assuming app developers choose to support it.

The new update orchestrator platform is now in preview on Windows 11, but likely won't roll out generally until sometime next year, once more app developers choose to start supporting it.

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