Two bits of Xbox Ally news this week, and both come with a catch. Windows Central's Jez Corden installed the new Xbox PC app on his Xbox Ally, but it's a leaked early build that was pushed to some devices too soon. It isn't something Microsoft has released.
The big change he reports is speed. The current app has a "rubber banding" problem where the cursor sticks for a couple of seconds and queued button presses then fire all at once. He says that's gone in the new build, long game lists scroll smoothly, and every panel loads much faster, from your library and Game Pass to the store and game pages. D-pad navigation also feels more native, without the odd diagonal jumps. There aren't many new features yet, and there's no ship date. Corden expects it to reach Xbox Insiders on PC around the end of the year.
The second piece is in Windows Insider builds only for now. Microsoft's latest Beta and Experimental builds add a refreshed Gaming Task View in Xbox mode, with a navigation bar for Exit to Desktop and Power Options. That should make it much easier to get back to the Windows desktop without digging through menus.
My take: the laggy navigation in the current Xbox app is one of the things that makes the Ally feel less like a console, so a faster app is really good to hear. Exit to Desktop is a small change I'd use all the time. I'm waiting until both actually ship before I get too excited, though.