Microsoft Whiteboard app will roll back to old UWP version

Facts have proved that there are not many users who hate web applications. Perhaps most users still prefer native client applications because they provide a better functional experience.

For example, the latest Microsoft Whiteboard application was changed from the UWP client to the WebView version, which was criticized by a large number of users.

In September 2021, Microsoft released a new version of the Microsoft Whiteboard application. In order to provide a cross-platform experience, Microsoft replaced the new whiteboard application with a WebView-driven web version.

For Microsoft, switching to the online version has many benefits: it can be used directly across platforms and devices, and it can also save development costs. It does not require separate development for each platform.

However, the actual situation shows that Microsoft’s wishful thinking was wrong. A large number of users have criticized the new Microsoft Whiteboard application in the two months since its release, which lacks major functions and has a poor experience.

Compared with the previous native version, the actual experience of the new web-based Whiteboard application is relatively poor. For example, it will take a long time for the user to load resources when opening it.

If the network situation is not good, the user will be stuck in the loading phase and experience delays. Obviously, this is too bad for the user.

In addition, the new whiteboard application is not as good as the original UWP native client in terms of functions, some functions are missing, some important functions are wrong and cannot be used, etc.

There are many posts criticizing the online whiteboard application on the Reddit forum. Two months after users complained about the problem, Microsoft finally realized that the problem was ready to release a solution.

The senior project manager of Microsoft’s Whiteboard application said on Twitter that Microsoft has listened to user feedback and is preparing to roll back the Whiteboard application as a previous client.

At the time Microsoft said:

The new Whiteboard provides a single unified user experience for all our customers across all devices, operating systems, and platforms. We’re rolling out an update to our native apps on Windows and iOS. This update will happen automatically and will provide you with all the new Whiteboard features from templates, shapes and reactions, to inking improvements, and more.

Via: mspoweruser