Windows 10 Your Phone app: Now all Android users can make calls from their PC
Microsoft's Your Phone app for syncing a phone with a PC is now available for all Windows 10 users and, in theory, all Android smartphones above version 7.0.
Windows 10
Microsoft has long been working to bring something of a macOS-iOS experience to Windows 10 via its Your Phone app, available on the Microsoft Store.
One of the key abilities of the app is to make and receive Android phone calls from your PC, but it also lets users check messages and view recent photos from the phone.
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For the past few months Microsoft has been testing the 'Calls' feature on preview builds from its Windows 10 19H1, version 1903. It kicked off the feature with the Galaxy Note 10 launch this August and has been gradually rolling it out to other, mostly Samsung Galaxy phones.
In October, Microsoft released the Link Your Phone feature to the Samsung Galaxy S10, S10+, S10e, S10 5G, and the Galaxy Fold, allowing users to link their phone to the PC and send messages, manage notifications, sync photos, and mirror a phone to the PC. The update also allows users to control phone apps from the PC.
On Wednesday, it announced the general availability of the Your Phone Calls feature in a tweet.
Thank you #WindowsInsiders for your feedback over the last couple of months. Today, we're pleased to announce the general availability of the #YourPhone app Calls feature, which allows you to receive and make phone calls on your PC: https://t.co/m47kLcXgbS pic.twitter.com/4GuIOXjR71
— Windows Insider (@windowsinsider) December 11, 2019
While the Your Phone app does support iPhone too, Microsoft appears to be focusing its efforts on Android.
General availability is going to be more important for all Android users with Windows 10 PCs, but it also comes as Microsoft gears up to launch its new Android phone, the Surface Duo.
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Microsoft will have all of 2020 to iron out any bugs with the Your Phone app, as well as the Call and Link Your Phone features before releasing the Surface Duo next US holidays 2020.
The Your Phone app seems to be catching on with Windows 10 users. In September, the Your Phone Companion Android app only had 10 million downloads on Google Play. That figure has now climbed to over 50 million, according to Google Play statistics. The app has an overall score of 4.3 out of 5, but reviews suggest Microsoft has a few features to fix yet.