Windows Phone fans rejoice! You can finally earn Xbox achievements again.
If you're still on a Windows Phone, you can unlock some Xbox achievements.
What you need to know
- Xbox achievements appear to be working again on the Windows Phone platform.
- A syncing issue broke achievements from Windows Phones for over a year.
- Over 200 achievements were unlocked in a day, which isn't bad for a dead platform.
We don't often get a chance to cover Windows Phone news these days. That's mostly because the platform is dead and has been for years, but that doesn't mean it's forgotten! If you're still rocking a Windows Phone, you can finally earn Xbox achievements again.
A report by TrueAchievements points out that several Windows Phone users have been able to earn achievements on their older devices recently. Xbox Achievements on Windows Phones stopped over a year ago due to a syncing issue, but that bug appears to be fixed.
The unlock data for achievements on Windows Phones shows a long strain of no achievements being unlocked, followed by a couple of blips starting on March 8, 2021. Then, around 200 achievements were unlocked from Windows Phones on March 16, 2021. That's not bad for a dead platform.
It's hard to say how many people this bug fix affects, but the data shows that achievements are being unlocked on around 15 different games on the Windows Phone platform.
Some people in a TrueAchievements forum had achievement sync from all the way back in November.
TrueAchievements reached out to Microsoft to see if this is a permanent fix for the syncing issue but hasn't heard back at this time.
If you're using a Windows Phone to unlock Xbox achievements, let us know in the comments below. We'd love to hear which games you're enjoying on your vintage device.
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Sean Endicott is a news writer and apps editor for Windows Central with 11+ years of experience. A Nottingham Trent journalism graduate, Sean has covered the industry’s arc from the Lumia era to the launch of Windows 11 and generative AI. Having started at Thrifter, he uses his expertise in price tracking to help readers find genuine hardware value.
Beyond tech news, Sean is a UK sports media pioneer. In 2017, he became one of the first to stream via smartphone and is an expert in AP Capture systems. A tech-forward coach, he was named 2024 BAFA Youth Coach of the Year. He is focused on using technology—from AI to Clipchamp—to gain a practical edge.
