After four years of seeming inactivity, Microsoft’s Sticky Notes platform looks set for a series of upgrades – with an announcement that 2024 will see “some of our biggest announcements yet”.
It’s easy to see why Sticky Notes hasn’t needed paradigm-shifting updates and constant evolutions. The app works just as Post-Its do in real life, allowing users to jot down a quick note to keep on their desktop as a reminder. And let’s face it, Post-Its haven’t exactly been transformed in the almost 50 years since they first emerged.
There’s also the fact that Sticky Notes’ success lies largely in its simplicity. There’s no sprawling suite of functions and features here; the platform does a straightforward task easily and effectively. So much so, in fact, that some users responded with dismay at the announcement, petitioning Microsoft to ensure that ease of use remains a core tenet of any future Sticky Notes iteration.
Microsoft’s big announcement came on X (formerly Twitter), with the @StickyNotes account sharing its first post since April 2020.
It certainly captured attention, with countless forecasters making their guesses as to what could be in store. Among the most common prediction was that Sticky Notes would be venturing into the world of AI, although Microsoft was quick to dismiss this, with a follow-up post reading: “Lots of rumors [sic] swirling about our update. Can you guess what it is? Wrong answers only. We’ll go first… Sticky Notes AI upgrade.”
Almost a month after its tease, Microsoft finally announced the first update: a brand-new Sticky Notes app for Windows. Focused on “creating and recalling notes more seamlessly than ever” the app has been previewed on OneNote but will soon be rolled out across the Windows Start menu and by toggling over from the existing Sticky Notes app. Of course, this is just one update, with Microsoft suggesting that many more are in the pipeline. So take note, there’s likely to be much still to come.
