My favourite Home windows 11 app actually does nothing

When Microsoft launched Windows 11 back in 2021, one of many extra putting visible parts inside the replace was the introduction of a brand new digital materials often known as Mica. Microsoft describes Mica as being “an opaque, dynamic materials that includes theme and desktop wallpaper to color the background of long-lived home windows comparable to apps and settings.”

Proper from the start, I used to be keen on Mica. Its sampling of the desktop wallpaper to create a pleasing tint instantly resonated with me, and I nonetheless discover the impact to be putting inside native Windows 11 apps like Settings, Calculator, and Pictures. Each time a third-party Home windows app is constructed with native UI parts and features a hearty dose of Mica inside its interface, I am delighted.

Then I stumbled upon the free Mica™️ app on the Microsoft Retailer. Pitched as a single-purpose app designed to show the Mica materials throughout a complete uninterrupted window (or a number of home windows), I used to be intrigued by its purported simplicity and its head-scratching lack of practical utility.

And, so, being the Mica fan I’m, I promptly downloaded and put in Mica™️ onto my Home windows PC. Since that trustworthy day, I have been working the app repeatedly each day, and it is joined the canon of Windows 11 Fluent-style apps which have me enthusiastic about the way forward for the platform as an entire.

Merely put, Mica™️ is quietly good

The app completely balances simplicity and customization choices

Mica™️ is brilliantly easy. When launched, it shows a clean window endowed from prime to backside with Microsoft’s Mica materials. As anticipated, it dynamically adjusts its look primarily based on my at present chosen PC wallpaper, and so no two setups will look precisely alike. You can even launch a number of home windows at a time with no restrict in place, every displaying its personal occasion of Mica.

Proper-clicking anyplace inside the Mica™️ app’s window will reveal the settings web page. From right here, there are a stunning variety of customization choices to select from. You’ll be able to toggle between mild and darkish themes, power the Mica impact even when the app window is not in focus, modify opacity utilizing a slider, and manually tweak the colour accents to your liking.

Beneath the personalization settings is the results part, and, in my view, these degree up the Mica™️ expertise. You’ll be able to combine and match the next three animated results: Aurora (a Home windows Aero-era impact that simulates the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights), Bloom (a Home windows 11-era impact that slowly pulses a blue mild on display screen), and Purple Bloom (a variation of Bloom that pulses pink mild versus blue mild on display screen).

Mica™️ is multifaceted

On the floor, the Mica™️ app may not seem significantly helpful. Outdoors of being a tech demo for Microsoft’s Mica materials, the app would not present any utility from a productiveness or leisure standpoint. It isn’t a stretch to say that the app primarily does nothing.

Then it clicked for me.

In reality, Mica™️ is definitely an extremely pragmatic piece of software program. As a screensaver, there’s nothing fairly just like the Mica impact blended along with Aurora and Bloom. It is a mesmerizing impact, and it is the kind of screensaver impact that I can not consider Microsoft itself hasn’t carried out (Redmond’s neglect of Home windows Screensavers is another story entirely). When working in a multi-monitor setup, filling my secondary show with a pulsing Bloom-filled Mica materials is each aesthetically pleasing and genuinely conducive in direction of stress aid.

I typically discover myself gazing a Mica™️ window in between spurts of writing, and it presents the identical kind of calming impact that I usually get from a crackling digital fire or a digital aquarium. In truth, I might like to see the developer behind Mica™️ lean into this additional, maybe by introducing a full-screen mode that removes the shut, resize, and decrease buttons, in addition to the system taskbar (I might favor not having to allow automated taskbar hiding from inside Home windows 11’s Settings app).

An optionally available tab bar would even be a much-appreciated addition, with the flexibility to set every tab with a unique coloured Mica impact and any mixture of Aurora, Bloom, and Purple Bloom. Customized Mica™️ presets can be a cool addition as effectively: say, a holiday-themed impact that blends collectively a refined fire animation with heat orange and pink Mica coloration tones.

Even with out these additions, the Mica™️ app has formally develop into one in every of my favourite Home windows 11 apps out there from the Microsoft Retailer. The developer has additionally created separate apps for different Microsoft design supplies — specifically Acrylic™️ and Tabbed™️ – however I am personally keen on Mica’s tinting model and dynamically opaque nature. The app stays a go-to for these instances once I’m on the lookout for Bloom-filled stress aid, and the ambiance it fosters when used as a screensaver is second to none.

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