The Bing Wallpaper app is one of the few items under the Bing brand that's praised. The app provides beautiful images that can be set to rotate as your desktop background. But the app is in the headlines for the wrong reasons this week.

Some unlucky users have had their desktop background swapped to a fullscreen ad for a collection of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films.

People have taken to Reddit to complain about the ad-filled wallpaper. A Microsoft Learn post shares similar complaints.

There's often debate about what counts as an ad on Windows 11. For example, prompts to use OneDrive are called ads by some but are viewed simply as optional features by others.

Promotional content isn't entirely new to Bing Wallpaper. The app frequently cycles through images tied to popular movies or Xbox games. Perhaps I'm splitting hairs, but I view the new Harry Potter wallpaper differently than a normal background image.

Bing Wallpaper features a gorgeous clean image of David Corenswet's Superman. It's a well-framed shot with dynamic lighting that captures the hopeful tone of Corenswet's rendition of the character. While the image is from Superman (2025), it is not a promotional poster with text about how to buy the movie.

In contrast, the Harry Potter wallpaper is specifically about the 11-film collection. The lower-right corner of the image says "AVAILABLE NOW" in all caps.

If the image were simply of Hogwarts and the surrounding area, it would be different. People are passionate about Harry Potter and other franchises. It's completely natural to enjoy a wallpaper showing off a favorite character or iconic setting.

I'd be just as bothered if the Superman image featured prominent text telling me the movie is available on Amazon. If Microsoft needs to monetize the Bing Wallpaper app, that needs to happen without crowding the images. Clicking to learn more about an image from a movie and being told about the film is fine. A big promo on my desktop is not.

Bing Wallpaper is an optional app, so it's not as if Microsoft is pushing more ads through Windows 11's settings. But as mentioned earlier, Bing Wallpaper is one of the only parts of the Bing brand that's well received. Tarnishing it with ads is penny wise, pound foolish.

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Windows 11 will soon feature a Battery Status widget that you can pin to the Widget Board or your PC's lock screen. The feature is still in the works at the moment, but you don't have to wait for it to be finished. Third-party app "Battery Flyout" already supports a Battery Status widget and is available right now.

Just like Microsoft's widget that's in progress, Battery Flyout's widget shows the battery status of your PC and connected devices. It's a quick way to check if your keyboard, mouse, or other accessories are charged.

The Widget Board has been underutilized since it launched in 2021. There are fewer than 100 widgets available, many of which are tremendously niche. I hope the existence of the Battery Status widget indicates that Microsoft is going to invest the time needed to grow the library of Windows 11 widgets.

Microsoft has made some other improvements to the Widget Board lately, such as turning off the MSN feed by default. I hope this is a turning point for the feature. If not, at least we can rely on third-party developers to use the space.

If you had a previous version of Battery Flyout installed, you may need to update the app before being able to use the widget.

As a built-in feature of Windows 11, the Battery Status widget will be available for free. Battery Flyout costs $3.19 (on sale from $3.99). But some lucky Windows Central readers will be able to get Battery Flyout for free. The app's developer shared a code for a giveaway and I'll run that on the r/windowscentral subreddit. Make sure to subscribe there and keep an eye out.

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