Even though Microsoft's smartphone business has sunk into oblivion, it's not yet done experimenting with projects that make people's experience of using phones and PCs better.
As such, the Redmond company is apparently developing a new app on Windows 10 called "Your Phone," which aims to bridge the gap between mobile devices and PCs. Microsoft first unveiled it back at the Build conference this past May, and it's designed to mirror content from one's phone to their PC.
Android Users Can Now Test The Phone App On Windows 10
Microsoft says Android users will be able to test the app first, in which they'll have the ability to drag and drop recent photos from their phone right into Office and other Windows apps. Soon, the company says it will also add support for text message synchronization and allow users to view their phone notifications on their computers.
Microsoft is also planning to release a version of the app to iOS users. The company already claimed during Build that photos and notifications will be mirrored from iPhones to PCs, but the company seems to only be testing the feature on Android as of the moment.
"You can finally stop emailing yourself photos. With Your Phone app, your Android's most recent photos sync to your PC automatically. Need to add a photo to your presentation? Want to spruce up that selfie with some Windows Ink action? Just drag and drop."
Your Phone is being tested as part of the forthcoming Windows 10 update, which is codenamed Redstone 5. It's scheduled to arrive this October, but it remains unclear whether Your Phone will be ready by then or be made available earlier as a separate app once testing is done. The former is more likely, though.
Mirroring Apps
Casting content from one's phone to their PC isn't a new concept, by the way, but the surprising thing is that neither Google or Microsoft has been able to come up with a perfect system for it. Sure, there's the third-party solution AirDroid, which allows Android users to transfer files wirelessly and do a bunch of other cool stuff, but it's not an official solution and requires a fee to unlock expanded features. It's shocking that in 2018, there's still no robust and concrete all-in-one solution for content mirroring and file transfers on Android — hopefully, that becomes a point of focus for the next version of the operating system.
On the other hand, iPhones offer wireless syncing with iTunes, but it's far from perfect.
