Phone Link, previously Your Phone, is an app developed by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

to connect

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on J ...

and

Windows 11 Windows 11 is the latest major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, released in October 2021. It is a free upgrade to its predecessor, Windows 10 (2015), and is available for any Windows 10 devices that meet the new Windows 11 ...

PCs to

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

devices. It enables a PC to access the 2000 most recent photos on a connected phone, send SMS messages, and make phone calls. As part of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update (1809), it replaced the legacy Phone Companion app. Phone Link can also be used to mirror the screen of an

Android device Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android is developed by a consortium of de ...

; however this feature is currently only available on select devices with the Link to Windows service pre-installed. The app also has a cross-device copy and paste feature allowing users to send copied text and images between devices using the same copy and paste shortcuts on each device.

History

On May 26, 2015, Microsoft announced the Phone Companion app for connecting Windows 10 PCs to Windows Phone, Android, and iPhone. At its Build 2018 event on May 7, 2018, Microsoft presented the Your Phone app, which allowed users to use their PCs to see recent photos on their phones, and to send SMS messages. At Samsung's Galaxy Note10 launch event, Microsoft previewed the additional Your Phone feature of receiving phone calls directly on a PC via

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...

. The feature was made available for all Android phones on February 20, 2020. On March 31, 2022, Your Phone was rebranded to Phone Link. On April 27, 2023, Microsoft started rolling out support for the iPhone.

References

{{Microsoft Windows components Android (operating system) Windows software

History

See also

References