At a recent Microsoft event, the company revealed the Your Phone app, which enables Android users to mirror apps, photos, and text messages from their smartphones to Windows 10/11 PCs.
This isn’t the first time companies have attempted running Android apps on a Windows PC. In recent years, there have been several methods trying to run Android apps on Windows, including Bluestacks and Dell’s Mobile Connect software. However, this new app, Your Phone, is so far the easiest, fastest and most convenient way to mirror Android apps on a Windows 10/11 PC.
In an announcement last September, Microsoft said that you don’t need to dig around your bag or purse just to send a text message. You can send your text message straight from your PC, even if your phone is in your pocket, bag, or purse.
The new app, Your Phone, provides users with instant access to their Android smartphone photos and texts from a Windows 10/11 computer. Whenever you take a picture using your Android phone, it is immediately reflected on your PC. The same goes for text messages. It’s a lot easier and faster. Plus, you can create messages, send group texts and type using a keyboard. Viewing, sending and receiving Android text messages via your computer had never been so seamless until the appearance of Your Phone.
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Your Phone was among the newly released Windows 10/11 Android apps as part of the October 2018 update. During the event, Microsoft demonstrated how app mirroring works for third-party applications. The demo showed how to run Android apps on Windows 10/11, but Microsoft announced that expanded app mirroring will be released at a later date.
The core functionality of the Your Phone app is now available with the Windows 10/11 October 2018 update. However, the app will only support mirroring the built-in Android texting app and photos app for now. Microsoft hopes that this app will bridge the gap between PCs and Android devices, making it easier to work with multiple devices.
Android as the Mobile Version of Windows
Mirroring Android apps on Windows 10/11 is just the latest among Microsoft’s attempts at aligning Android as the mobile version of Windows. Remember the Lumia 950 Windows 10/11 Mobile device? This Windows phone, which was launched just three years ago but which vanished shortly after, was Microsoft’s first attempt at making Windows work for mobile phones. However, Microsoft finally admitted the demise of the Windows phone just a year ago. So instead of making new Windows phones, Microsoft turned to making Android the mobile version of Windows instead.
Aside from launching Your Phone, Microsoft Launcher is also another move aimed at bridging the gap between Windows and Android devices. An Android launcher was quietly released two years ago as part of the company’s Garage experiment, and Microsoft has since improved it in the form of the Microsoft Launcher that debuted together with Your Phone.
The new launcher is designed to take over the default Google launcher that’s built into most Android devices. Microsoft Launcher aims to bring the company’s own services to the home screen and to make it easier for you to resume apps and Android apps on Windows 10/11 webpages across devices.
iOS Compatibility
Microsoft is not only working on mirroring Android apps on Windows 10/11 — it’s also doing the same for Android’s rival, iOS. Although the mobile strategy is still a work in progress, it won’t be long before we start enjoying Android and iOS apps on our Windows PCs.
Although the new app will not offer any improvement to your Windows 10/11 PC’s performance, it will at least make working with multiple devices more seamless. If you want to boost your Windows PC’s performance, you can use an app such as Outbyte PC Repair instead. Not only does it clean out junk from your computer, it also maximizes your RAM, hence making your computer more powerful.