Microsoft has today announced that it is shutting down its ‘Wi-Fi Sense’ feature, which allowed users to share their network with friends and contacts.
The Wi-Fi Sense feature was first introduced alongside the Windows 8 Mobile lineup and then promoted to be included in Windows 10 as well. Using the feature, users could easily share their Wi-Fi login information directly with all their contacts and friends. It also helped them keep track of and connect automatically to open Wi-Fi hotspots, and networks shared by their contacts. This feature however had raised a lot of privacy concerns among users who feared their Wi-Fi passwords were being automatically shared.
Microsoft is once and for-all putting end to user’s privacy concerns by removing the said feature in the latest Insider Update. The announcement mentions that,
The cost of updating the code to keep this feature working combined with low usage and low demand made this not worth further investment. Wi-Fi Sense, if enabled, will continue to get you connected to open Wi-Fi hotspots that it knows about through crowdsourcing.
Aside from this feature removal, a lot of beautification and updates have been introduced in the new Windows 10 Insider Preview. Microsoft has further upgraded the Edge Browser and its extensions in this update. It now allows users to easily install Edge extensions directly from the Windows Store.
If you’ve previously installed extensions on Edge, you will see they have been removed form the browser. You will have to reinstall the extensions back from the Windows Store. The Skype UWP app has introduced Dark theme mode and multiple account switching. Several new Windows Ink and Action Centre updates have also been introduced in this update. Checkout the full-feature list here.
What are your views on the removal of Wi-Fi Sense? Did you share your Wi-Fi with your contacts?
