Microsoft may no longer be making a Windows Phone, but that doesn't mean that the company has left the smartphone arena. At Build 2018, Microsoft announced that it is adding a new feature to Windows 10 named "Your Phone" to connect user's smartphones with the PC.
This feature will work on a phone if it is running Android or iOS.
Your Phone
Microsoft's new feature Your Phone will allow users to access their smartphones directly from their PCs. It is supposed to offer access to text messages, photos, and even notifications. Microsoft wants to make it so that users will not have to get off their PC to send something to their smartphone. They would be able to drag and drop things such as photos back and forth.
In a statement, Microsoft says that it is focusing on bringing Microsoft 365 services across different platforms. Microsoft calls the Your Phone feature a window into a user's smartphone. The idea is to allow users to control everything from one device. Microsoft makes a big deal about users not having to take their phones out of their pockets to access it.
At Build 2018, Microsoft announced that it would be working to connect Windows 10 PCs with Android and iOS devices. This app is still not available for users, and no release date has been announced. Microsoft did say that it will be tested in the Windows Insider Program this week.
When it is released, it will only have access to texts, photos, and notifications. How well it tests with Insiders will determine if it will become a feature in Windows 10. The operating system is set to receive its next major update called Redstone 5, so there may be a chance that Your Phone will be included in that update.
Functionality With Smartphones
According to AppleInsider, only full mirroring has been confirmed to work with the Android system. This includes access to photos, messages, and notifications. iPhone users may have a harder time using the app due to Apple's sandboxing and API access policies that are more restrictive, as Apple's policies are stricter than Android's for security purposes.
There is catch for iPhone users: to use the iOS version of the app, users will need to have the Microsoft Edge browser. No further details have been released about the new feature. From the announcement, it doesn't seem like users of the Windows Phone will be able to use Your Phone app.
