Your Phone is a companion app that allows you to make calls, send texts and soon run apps from your Android phone on Windows 10
One of the big attractions of Apple products is the way they seamlessly share information between devices. It’s always felt like Microsoft has been playing catch-up in that regard, something that was only emphasised by the discontinuation of Windows Phones. Windows 10’s October 2018 update attempted to bridge the gap, with the launch of the Your Phone app. While this had limited functionality initially, Microsoft has been gradually adding new features to make it a comprehensive companion app. You can now manage your phone’s calls, texts and notifications from the desktop, view & delete photos and control music. A future update will even allow you to natively run Android apps on your desktop. Here’s how to make the most out of it. Firstly, you’ll need to download the Your Phone Companion app on the Google Play Store. This may already be on your phone if you have a Samsung device, while the Windows 10 version comes pre-installed on your device. While the Your Phone app isn’t available on the App Store, there is a way to take advantage of one of its features on iOS: It’s far from the full functionality though, and AirDrop already offers a similar feature. Unfortunately, iOS and Windows don’t work particularly well together. We all know how distracting your phone can be when you’re trying to work. It feels much easier to ignore a notification in the corner of your laptop screen as opposed to front and centre on your phone.
