14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 Mobile is currently in maintenance mode, and Microsoft will continue to provide security updates until the end-of-support is reached in mid-2019, so a page that came out of nowhere and pointing to a new major update for the platform was certainly surprising.
Last week, a Microsoft support page indicated that Microsoft was planning to release a so-called Windows 10 Mobile April 2018 Update, and while it all seemed to be an error on the company’s side, some believed the software giant was ready to reboot its mobile efforts.
Microsoft has never publicly discussed the possibility of seeing the Windows 10 April 2018 Update going live for phones, and the same tight-lipped approach has been used for removing the reference too.
New mobile device coming later this year
Because starting today, the page in question no longer states that Windows 10 Mobile April 2018 Update is on its way, as Microsoft has quietly changed it to “Fall Creators Update.” A small note at the bottom of the page indicates this update was published on May 9.
“Windows 10 Mobile automatically downloads and installs updates when they are available. The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update includes additional features and improvements for your Windows 10 phone,” the page now reads.
In other words, Windows phones still won’t be getting any new updates anytime soon. Security updates will continue to be shipped as originally scheduled until July 2019, but after that point, Windows 10 Mobile will be officially dead.
In the meantime, Microsoft is believed to be working on a new mobile device that could launch later this year, though this project refers to a new form factor possibly with phone capabilities, rather than to a new phone. This device is likely to run full Windows 10, rather than Windows 10 Mobile, so the mobile platform is more or less dead already despite security patches still being shipped.