Microsoft’s update servers are pushing out a new Photos Add-on app, with no explanation of what it does. Windows 10 users aren’t taking it well.
Microsoft’s update servers began pushing out a mysterious new app recently, and the new arrival is stirring up suspicion and anger among some Windows 10 users.
The new app is called Photos Add-on, and its entry in the Windows Store offers few clues about what it is or does.
On my test systems, the new app appeared as part of Windows updates delivered on October 10. Based on ratings and reviews in the Store, other Windows 10 users saw the update as early as October 1.
More than 70 percent of the early reviews have given the mystery add-on a 1 star rating, with reviewers adding comments like these:
So, what is the mystery app? The answer turns out to be relatively innocuous.
It is indeed an update for the built-in Photos app, included with every copy of Windows 10. Its official name is Photos. DLC. Main (DLC apparently stands for “downloadable content”), and it’s listed in Settings > Apps > Apps & Features. Find the Photos app, click Advanced Options, and look under the App Add-ons & Downloadable Content heading:
Ad far as I can tell, this is the first public release of a feature that was announced 18 months ago, as part of a Windows 10 preview build delivered in April 2016:
The add-on model is documented in this reference page for the Universal Windows Platform API. A source with knowledge of this add-on told me that it’s part of an architectural change that will allow Microsoft to deliver new functionality and content updates to the Photos app, including 3D effects, filters, and text.
It’s also yet another example of an unforced error on Microsoft’s part. Even a tiny amount of documentation in the listing for this add-on would have tamped down the suspicion. Instead, it’s fresh fuel for conspiracy theorists.
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