The latest Windows 11 Canary build 26212 quietly introduced support for what are called “Start Menu Companions”. These are small widget-like apps that are designed to appear alongside your pinned apps or the “All Apps” list in the Start menu.
These companions appear to offer at-a-glance information, such as weather updates, stock prices, and more. And yes, they have a lot in common with the now-defunct Live Tiles feature from previous versions of Windows. They lack the bright colors and blocky shapes, but they supposedly function in a similar way.
Interestingly, Microsoft did not officially mention the introduction of Start Menu Companions in the release notes for build 26212. The feature's discovery was made by Albacore over on X (formerly known as Twitter), which offers a taste of what could soon be available for testing within the Windows Insider Program.
It's time for the Start menu to become expandable!✨
Windows 11 β build 26212 quietly introduces support for "Start Menu Companions." These are apps that provide adaptive maps that are displayed on a floating island (pinned ➡️ or ⬅️) next to Home
Used Widgets data as a quick demo 😊 photo.twitter.com/FddrpC99h3– Albacore ☁️ (@thebookisclosed) May 9, 2024
Developers will reportedly have the ability to create applications that serve widget-like content using adaptive cards — an approach that allows for the display of UI blocks with information in a platform-agnostic manner. Users will have the flexibility to configure these companions from within Windows 11 settings, where they can install multiple companions and use switches to enable or disable them as needed. According to Albacore, these companions appear to be heavily focused on web content, and are similar to the sidebar widgets already in
Start Menu Companions seem reminiscent of the now-discontinued Live Tiles, the animated icons originally introduced with Windows 8. Back then, Live Tiles were launched by Microsoft as an attempt to unify its platform with Windows Phone OS. They were designed to allow quick, easy access to essential information with just a glance at your phone or desktop. In Windows 10, they were banished to the Start menu, and were eventually discontinued altogether in 2021 with the release of Windows 11.
The design of the Start menu has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks for those updating from Windows 10 to Windows 11. The feature has been criticized not only for its limited usefulness, but even for its functionalityand was recently called “comically bad” by a former Microsoft developer. Start Menu Companions wouldn’t fix those problems, but it would certainly bring back some of the familiarity of the Windows 10 Start Menu.
