Back in August 2021, Microsoft revealed that the regular Clock app in Windows 11 would be getting a significant redesign. This included a brand-new integration with Spotify called Focus Sessions, which would let you create a Focus Timer that would allow you to set a certain amount of time to complete a task while giving you notice when a break is due.
However, Neowin reported that for the past several months, the certification for that integration has expired, leaving the feature completely unusable. And despite complaints from many users in Microsoft’s official support forums and Feedback Hub, there have been no official fixes on that side.
Spotify’s official forums received the same complaints, and eventually a representative stated that "We've checked around and it looks like this is a known limitation on Windows' side at the moment due to an expired certificate,” then went on to advise users to report the issue to Microsoft support for a more detailed explanation.
Update: A Microsoft spokesperson reached out to TechRadar with the following statement: "Microsoft is aware and working on a fix."
This is unacceptable
This certainly isn’t the first time we’ve had a malfunctioning Windows 11 feature, or one that Microsoft took months to solve. Between the tech giant’s OS stealth-nerfing graphics cards due to a security feature, forced updates causing Bluetooth instabilities, AMD processors not working, and more, there seems to be no end to the woes.
But this one, in particular, isn’t a good look for Microsoft, as it’s a feature that Microsoft's Chief Product Officer Panos Panay promoted himself, and championed as a “gaming-changing” integration on his official Twitter. Now, after two years, the integration is dead in the water, with no signs of Microsoft fixing it or even wanting to fix it.
While this isn’t one of those software features people paid real money for, with no hope of a refund, Focus Sessions was undoubtedly a useful tool for people who struggle with focusing on work. It’s an incredibly useful feature, and one of the few I can think of for Windows 11 that was genuinely helpful, and seeing it gutted without any sort of replacement or fix in sight feels particularly frustrating.
Hopefully, Microsoft will announce that it's addressing the issue soon, or, barring that, some saint out there will create a third-party app with the same concept and better long-term support.
