The hardware indicators now come with a new design

Jan 12, 2022 23:52 GMT  ·  By

Windows 11 as a whole is a major design evolution, with Microsoft betting big on a modern approach to make its operating system feel fresh.

In addition to rounded corners and Mica, Windows 11 also redesigns pretty much every little corner of the operating system, including the things that have until now been ignored.

Windows 11 build 22533, which was released to users earlier today, comes with a redesign of the flyouts showing up when pressing the hardware buttons for features like volume and brightness.

Just as expected, the new flyouts align with the design introduced by Windows 11, and Microsoft explains that brightness and volume indicators will continue to be interactive.

Also using light and dark mode

One important tidbit is that the new flyouts will align with the visual settings of the operating system, so they support both the light and the dark mode, depending on your current theme.

“We have updated the flyout design for the hardware indicators for brightness, volume, camera privacy, camera on/off and airplane mode, to align with Windows 11 design principles. These new flyouts will appear when you press the volume or brightness keys on your laptop and will honor light/dark mode to give you a more coherent Windows experience. Brightness and volume indicators continue to be interactive with the update,” Microsoft explains.

Needless to say, this new feature doesn’t yet have a release date, and this makes perfect sense given it’s still in its early days and could require additional polishing going forward.

But the improvements that Microsoft introduces in Windows 11 preview build today no longer come with an ETA, as the company just wants to experiment with various ideas before starting the production rollout.

The first major update for Windows 11 is expected in the summer of this year, and there’s a chance subtle refinements like this one would be part of the launch.