MSN News update brings breaking alerts to Windows 10 desktop and mobile

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
last updated

Microsoft has pushed out updates to a duo of its own apps on Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile, bringing new versions of MSN Weather and News. While Weather doesn't seem to have gained anything notable in this update, News now has a new feature that should be welcome to many: Breaking news alerts.

As you'd expect, enabling breaking news alerts in the News app will allow you to receive notifications when something particularly big or important is happening. To enable the setting, simply head into the Settings menu in the News app and toggle the Breaking News Alerts switch to "On" under the Notifications heading.

Breaking Alerts Setting

While the Weather update isn't nearly as exciting, it most likely contains some bug fixes and performance improvements as well. If you'd like to grab either update, hit up the links below. And be sure to shout out in the comments if you happen to spot anything notable that we missed.

Thanks for the tips, Tony and Mark!

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

27 Comments
  • Been waiting for this feature..
  • Hasn't this been a feature for a while though? At least for the Oregon shooting I had a couple notifications from MSN news..
  • Ya, I have been getting alerts of all sort of shooting in US and also today I got alert of an Indian MLA thrashed on 'beef' in assembly! Thats 'wen in india' covered!!!
  • Same, I always got breaking news.
  • The feature to toggle it OFF is what's new.
  • When is Windows Central app going to provide breaking new alerts? "Mobile Build 10582 avaliable for download!" or "Insider Preview Build coming in the next hour!" Stuff like that ;).
  • Would like to know if there's a new WC app in the works - Surprised we haven't heard anything about it (afaik), but I'd guess Mobile Nations have some say in when and how a new app is developed, and they would want to develop the apps with as much re-use as possible across brands (Just guessing) - There are plenty of decent Windows Developers who are fans of WC that would love to build the new app, which makes me think it's not WC fault there's no app yet, they may not want/be able to just go out and hire somebody to put a new app together.
  • I deleted the app moments ago on my Windows 10 x64 machine. It is useless. Untill toast notifications are made available i will not install it. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • I just want them to show the status bar on the Mobile versions
  • Now when is the hamburger menu gone? It's gone from the store app with the latest update.
  • No, it's not.
  • Gone from my desktop app
  • Plenty of space on the desktop. But it will appear if you scale the Store's window to tiny. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • Unfortunately whenever these alerts appear it is sad news, usually mass casualties :(
  • It will get only worse. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • Doesn't update on 8.1 until you open the app .
  • Where's the dark theme and the transparent and more informative live tile?! :)
  • Yeah I'm used to dark theme on my windows phone too want a dark theme!
  • I'll just click the download link in the WC app... oh. Never mind.
  • Lol
  • MSN... lol
  • Weather app now shows wind data. Also weather maps looks more polished and smoother data (latter is subjective). Local news still broken in MSN news. Problems with finding local data and showing incorrect local news. Feedback sent and asked for escalation of the problem. Feature still missing: support for rss feeds (I think the news is too curated).        
  • It's a shame that it has only a few editions
  • My News app has been delivering breaking news notifications since forever,this option was there since 8.1 I guess..its not something new..
  • When is the weather app going to be able to go on the lockscreen on windows 10 mobile...I really like and miss that!!
  • Does the MSN News App on the PC sync with the MSN News app on the phone (iPhone/Android)? The topics I follow on the phone app do not show up on the app on my Surface 3. Using the same email address.
  • Breaking news alert notifications not working on my Lumia 950XL!