Windows 10 users on the Windows Insider Fast ring can take an early peek at a visual reworking of the Photos app which ditches the hamburger menu navigation and offers a cleaner look and feel.
Note: I was tipped off to this change by Windows Central’s Daniel Rubino.
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It’s not clear yet whether this change marks a wholesale move away from the hamburger menu, which is unnecessarily controversial in some circles. But I think not: For this app, especially, being able to easily navigate between its limited set of views is in fact better served by the new tab-based design.
To understand the change, here’s what the Photos app currently looks like in Windows 10. As you can see, it sports a dark theme and uses a collapsible hamburger menu on the left for navigation.
But if you’re a Windows Insider on the Fast ring, you can update to a coming updated version of the app that offers two major, obvious changes: There’s new, tab-based navigation, where the three main views—Collection, Albums, and Folders—are always visible and available. And, like most other in-box apps in Windows 10, it now correctly supports the OS theme and lets you manually switch between dark and light modes.
I happen to prefer my media apps in dark mode, and the result is both visually pleasing and—thanks to the simpler new navigation—easier to use.
Note that the update is also available on Windows 10 Mobile. I expect this update to makes it way through the other Windows Insider rings and then out to production in the coming weeks. Looking good.