Samsung Flow is a cool app that will soon expand its reach significantly, allowing eligible Samsung Galaxy smartphones to unlock all Windows 10 PCs.
The app has been on the market for quite a good while, launching in beta back in May 2015 as Samsung's answer to Apple's Continuity concept. Samsung Flow was designed to allow Android users who owned Galaxy smartphones and tablets to share content between two devices. The app became more popular when Samsung relaunched it on the Windows-powered Galaxy TabPro S tablet, and the unlocking feature became exclusive to that device.
Starting in April, however, Samsung Flow will no longer have those limitations as any eligible Galaxy smartphone will be able to unlock any Windows 10 PC.
In response to a customer query on the Samsung Flow app page on Google Play, Samsung confirmed that all Windows 10 PCs will be supported after the next major Windows 10 update - the Windows 10 Creators Update - which is set to arrive in early April.
Samsung Flow Details: How It Works
Simply put, Samsung Flow is an app that enables communication between devices. More specifically, Samsung Flow allows for phone notifications to appear on a paired PC and users can reply to the notifications from the PC, as well as transfer content or continue browsing from one device to another. Overall, the service is quite similar to Apple's Continuity.
With the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S, Samsung Flow took things to the next level by allowing users to unlock the Windows tablet by using a paired smartphone's fingerprint scanner. This means that Galaxy users could easily unlock their Windows-powered TabPro S from their smartphone, but the same functionality did not extend to other devices. The feature added an additional layer of security to the tablet, as the Galaxy TabPro S doesn't have its own fingerprint reader.
Come April, this unlocking feature will no longer be limited to the Galaxy TabPro S as users will be able to unlock any Windows 10 PC from their eligible Galaxy smartphone. The fact that this feature will extend its availability after the Windows 10 Creators Update indicates that the two are closely tied.
Microsoft's Anniversary Update from last year did bring fingerprint scanner support to Windows 10, but it likely covered only fingerprint sensors actually mounted on Windows 10 devices. That said, the Creators Update could throw remote unlocking into the mix, which would explain why Samsung Flow will soon support all Windows 10 PCs.
Samsung Flow Compatibility
Even so, while Samsung Flow will support all Windows 10 PCs, it will still have limitations on the smartphone front as not all Galaxy smartphones have fingerprint scanners. This means that the app will only work with select Galaxy smartphones such as the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, and the Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 models from 2016. Future high-end Galaxy smartphones such as the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus will most likely play nice with Samsung Flow as well.
Samsung has not announced a specific date yet for when Samsung Flow will expand its reach beyond the Galaxy TabPro S, but should offer more details shortly.
