Windows 11 Dev Preview Build 22538 Released with Voice Access Update

Microsoft today pushed Build 22538 update to Windows 11 Dev Preview users, and this update focuses on improvements such as voice access and keyboard input. You may remember that Microsoft introduced voice access in Build 22518, which is a new experience for controlling your PC through your voice only. And in today's release, Microsoft is offering a number of voice access updates for Windows Preview Experience members.

New feature: Voice Access via touch keyboard

When users turn on Voice Access, as you can see from the screenshot, numbers appear on all the keys of the touch keyboard.

Users can perform the following actions by voice:

• Spell words, such as names and email addresses.
• Enter numbers, such as phone numbers and addresses.
• Enter punctuation and symbols.
• Enter emojis.

You can simply say "Click [number]" to simulate pressing a key. Say "Show keyboard" or "Hide keyboard" to turn the touch keyboard on/off.

Changes and improvements brought by Build 22538

• The taskbar weather widget portal, first introduced in Build 22518, should now be available to all Windows Preview Experience members in the Dev channel.
• In ALT + TAB, Task View, and Snap Assist, the focus rectangle showing the selected content will now use the accent color selected on the PC.
• ALT + TAB showing focus rectangle with accent color.
• The updated IME (input method) and touch keyboard design will now be displayed on the lock screen and where account information (such as username and password) is entered. This change is currently only available to specific users.

• The updated touch keyboard design as seen from the Lock screen.
• The updated IME design as it appears on the Lock screen.
• Began rolling out voice input functionality with a voice pack available for download from the Microsoft Store to enable device-based voice recognition for better transcription performance.
• Attempts are being made to improve discoverability of certain input features in various areas of the operating system.
• Direct access to ncpa.cpl is available again for those who need it.
• Added HTTPS boot for Hyper-V 2nd generation VMs, which is currently enabled by default.
• Display calibration can now be done directly under Settings > Display > HDR, instead of opening a separate Settings page.

Issues fixed in Build 22538

General:

• Pressing the hardware button to raise/lower the volume should no longer cause explorer.exe to crash for some Insiders.
• Resolves a misplaced text issue that some Insiders were seeing in Settings and elsewhere.
• Fixes an issue that caused the narrator to crash in the text box when using scan mode.
• Mitigated an issue where for some PCs, video playback would resume immediately after resuming from sleep or hibernation but audio could take up to 10 seconds to start playing.

File Explorer:

• Folders named "Advanced" should no longer accidentally open the "Advanced Sharing Settings" page in Settings.

Search:

• Resolved an issue where typing using Search from Start or clicking the Search icon in the taskbar would not actually start the search because no text was entered.

Taskbar:

• The long formatted taskbar date and time does not break on the secondary display.

Settings:

• There is no longer a random blank entry under Bluetooth and Devices.
• Fixed an issue with the narrator reading the Resume update button as "Check for updates" on the Windows Update page.
• Settings no longer crash when going to System > Display > HDR.
• Fixed a fundamental issue that caused settings to crash when using the Clear Location History option.
• Resolved an issue that caused settings to crash for some Insiders when viewing Wi-Fi network properties.
• For people with dual NICs, the Private and Public controls in Network Properties no longer blink.
• Searching for "Network Reset" now appears in the search results.
• When viewing the list of available Wi-Fi networks in Quick Settings, the signal strength indicator should now reflect the correct signal strength instead of showing all full signals.

Inputs:

• Removed the "Try your settings" box from Personalization > Text Input > Custom Themes, as it was not working.
• "Custom text colors in Settings > Personalization > Text Input > Custom Themes can be applied to text in the Candidate Window / Clipboard History / Emoticons panel.
• Fixed performance issues when switching input back and forth quickly with the new input switcher.
• Tapping the search box in the Expression input area of the touch keyboard for the first time after switching input languages no longer causes the touch keyboard to close immediately.
• Fixed an unexpected 1-pixel gap between the side of the touch keyboard and the edge of the screen when docked.
• Added missing inverted interrobang (⸘) to the general punctuation section of WIN + period.

Windows:

• For users using custom modes in Settings > Personalization > Colors, the backgrounds of ALT + Tab, Task View and Snap Assist should now follow the default Windows mode (light and dark) instead of the default application mode.
• Drag and drop windows in Task View should now again be dragged in the correct direction when using the Arabic or Hebrew display language.
• explorer.exe no longer crashes when closing a snapshot group containing 3 or 4 applications.

Widgets:

• Fixed an issue that caused the widget button to disappear from the taskbar when changing the taskbar alignment.
• When multiple monitors are connected to the PC, the widget content on the taskbar will sync between monitors.

Voice Access:

• Fixed an issue with the recently removed microphone showing up as the selected microphone.
• Resolved an issue to ensure that microphone status changes are announced to screen reader users.
• Fixed an issue ensuring that the microphone name is read out for the screen reader user on the microphone selection page when setting up voice access for the first time.
• Fixed an issue ensuring that the microphone tab communicates the current microphone status to the screen reader user.
• Fixed an issue with the "show numbers" command showing duplicate number labels on the Microsoft Edge home page.
• Fixed an issue where the command "lowercase previous character" did not work as expected.
• Fixed an issue where Voice Access would give an error message saying "Voice Access Wake-up" even if no microphone was connected.
• Fixed the issue that dictation does not work properly on desktop and file explorer.
• Fixed the problem that the command "show numbers" did not show the numbers label on the focus window.

Task Manager:

• Fixed an issue that affected the reliability of Task Manager.
• Changed the name of the "Application History" tab column in Task Manager from "Tile Updates" to "Notifications".

Known issues with Build 22538

Taskbar:

• Investigating a report of two arrows appearing on the Hide Icon Float control and the Quick Settings icon not aligning with the date and time. A restart may resolve the issue.
• The taskbar sometimes flickers when switching input methods.

Search:

• The search panel may not open after clicking the search icon on the taskbar. If this happens, restart the "Windows Explorer" process and open the search panel again.

Enter:

• At the UAC prompt, the IME candidate window is not displayed.

Widgets:

• When the taskbar is left-aligned, information such as temperature is not displayed, this will be fixed in a future update.