Microsoft warns that Android 15 will make Windows Phone Link worse

[Windows Central]

Certain sensitive notifications will no longer appear in Windows Phone Link when connected to certain phones.

Microsoft warns that Android 15 will make Windows Phone Link worse : Read more

 

[Dave47]

Actually Phone Link has not been working well for awhile now. Constant off-line / connect problems on both Windows 10 and 11. Used to be more reliable. Check feedback and MS Community for the long list of problems.

 

[John McIlhinney]

Actually Phone Link has not been working well for awhile now. Constant off-line / connect problems on both Windows 10 and 11. Used to be more reliable. Check feedback and MS Community for the long list of problems.

I have two machines - a Surface Pro 7 for work and a custom desktop for home - and Phone Link stopped working on both a while back. The issue seems to have righted itself on the desktop but it's still not working on the Surface. Both machines are running what I assume is the latest version. I'm about to upgrade the Surface so I haven't bothered reporting the issue to Microsoft, but I will if it doesn't work on the new machine too.

 

[smartin559]

So basically MS saying their buggy software is buggy, and they don't want to fix it. Got it.

 

[naddy69]

Trying to cobble together a solution from different companies with vastly different priorities is a waste of time. If only there was a single company that sold PCs, phones, tablets and watches. That all worked together seamlessly. That all use the same OS and apps.

Hmmm.

 

[jamDigger]

Trying to cobble together a solution from different companies with vastly different priorities is a waste of time. If only there was a single company that sold PCs, phones, tablets and watches. That all worked together seamlessly. That all use the same OS and apps.

Hmmm.

The last half of your comment would be so nice if the first part of your comment weren't patently false.

 

[GraniteStateColin]

Seems like a good reason to stick with Samsung phones for that tight level of integration with Windows. I LOVE Phone Link. Works fantastic for me with my Samsung phone (was good with Duo and Duo 2 also, but even better with Samsung phone).

The latest update means that I can even access the whole file system on the phone from Windows without plugging it in. It can be in my pocket or setting on the wireless Qi charger on my desk. What's amazing about this is that this integration happens deep within the Windows file system, so whether it's connected via USB cable or wirelessly via Phone Link, even old third-party apps that don't support the modern file UI can read and write directly to the Android device like it's a flash drive. This means apps to edit documents and programs that copy files (needed for syncing music since MS abandoned OneDrive and Zune/Groove music support) work seamlessly over this. Obviously, it's faster for large transfers when connected via USB, but if not moving many GB of files, the convenience of not having to involve wires is a huge win. And the wireless connection performance is surprisingly good.

Receiving and typing responses to text messages from Windows is also a vast improvement over doing that on the phone. However, the Android app experience is still a problem for me: I have a folding phone and it's necessary to unfold it and unlock the phone to run the app on Windows. If I'm going through all that, I might as well just run the app on the phone. I know this comes from security protections, but when at my private desk on my private PC on my private network, I wish there were a way to just let the apps run without having to interact with the phone at all. For me, that's the only negative with the current iteration of Phone Link on a Samsung device.

 

[GraniteStateColin]

Trying to cobble together a solution from different companies with vastly different priorities is a waste of time. If only there was a single company that sold PCs, phones, tablets and watches. That all worked together seamlessly. That all use the same OS and apps.

Hmmm.

Presumably you're referring to the Apple ecosystem. I like Apple (started as a dedicated Apple user in the 1980's and praised the return of Steve Jobs with NeXT acquisition), think their animations and fluidity are beautiful, and agree with their cohesive approach in concept, but their execution falls so far from the mark, I strongly dislike using Apple products. Feel like I'm being punished whenever I have to use iOS or Mac OS (in both, there are things I like and admire, but the overall effect is like torture).

In their quest for simplicity Apple makes everything take more steps than needed, where Windows (and, to a lesser extent, Android) allow doing the same things in 1 or a few steps (e.g., the way Mac OS supports basic accelerators like the right-click is a tedious mess, the lack of good gesture controls in iOS is another classic Apple failure). Similarly, Apple has retained the single menu bar at the top of the screen since the original Mac, which makes no sense in a world with giant monitors and multitaksing with many windows open.

Now if MS keeps going in Apple's direction, like with the New Outlook, and iOS keeps getting better (like it finally added support for swipe to type, which is much faster than hitting individual letters), MS may lose its UX advantages, but so far, they're still far ahead.

 

[GraniteStateColin]

So basically MS saying their buggy software is buggy, and they don't want to fix it. Got it.

This is a Google change, hence it not affecting the phones that can bypass the change with the built-in version of Phone Link, like Samsung does.

 

[bradavon]

Actually Phone Link has not been working well for awhile now. Constant off-line / connect problems on both Windows 10 and 11. Used to be more reliable. Check feedback and MS Community for the long list of problems.

Phone Link works fine for me.

 

[bradavon]

So basically MS saying their buggy software is buggy, and they don't want to fix it. Got it.

It's a good idea to read the article before commenting. It's a Google change.

 

[bradavon]

Trying to cobble together a solution from different companies with vastly different priorities is a waste of time. If only there was a single company that sold PCs, phones, tablets and watches. That all worked together seamlessly. That all use the same OS and apps.

Hmmm.

Already exists. Buy Apple.

This is literally why millions use Windows and Android. No thanks.

 

[bradavon]

The latest update means that I can even access the whole file system on the phone from Windows without plugging it in. It can be in my pocket or setting on the wireless Qi charger on my desk. What's amazing about this is that this integration happens deep within the Windows file system, so whether it's connected via USB cable or wirelessly via Phone Link, even old third-party apps that don't support the modern file UI can read and write directly to the Android device like it's a flash drive. This means apps to edit documents and programs that copy files (needed for syncing music since MS abandoned OneDrive and Zune/Groove music support) work seamlessly over this. Obviously, it's faster for large transfers when connected via USB, but if not moving many GB of files, the convenience of not having to involve wires is a huge win. And the wireless connection performance is surprisingly good.

The article is wrong.

That's not the Phone Link app but the Phone integration.

You can access your phone in Explorer and use your phone as a webcam without having Phone Link configured.

A lot of Phone Link is also poor. Loading Android apps is terrible. Copying the photos does so lowering their resolution.

SMS is nice but only Americans still send SMS messages regularly.

The Phone Call aspect is good.

 

[GraniteStateColin]

The article is wrong.

That's not the Phone Link app but the Phone integration.

You can access your phone in Explorer and use your phone as a webcam without having Phone Link configured.

A lot of Phone Link is also poor. Loading Android apps is terrible. Copying the photos does so lowering their resolution.

SMS is nice but only Americans still send SMS messages regularly.

The Phone Call aspect is good.

The fact that Phone Link lowers the resolution is purely a plus for me. OneDrive keeps the resolution at max levels, so that's always an option. But if I just want to grab a quick photo for an email or to include in an SMS message, w/o Phone Link's resolution-lowering effect, I'd have to do it manually to avoid emailing a multi-MB file.

Interesting on the new file access. Are you sure that's completely independent of Phone Link? I can't argue that one way or the other, but had assumed it was related to Phone Link. How does the security work otherwise -- it gives me full access to the file system on the phone wirelessly w/o unlocking the phone or even giving the computer permission to access it. I would think that means it must be acquiring at least the permission through the existing Phone Link connection.

I love Phone Link and use it many times throughout the day every day. It's become one of my most important and relied-upon apps. It may be that it's not great with non-Samsung (or MS, when they had the Duo) phones -- I wouldn't know, because I've not tried it with any, but it's fantastic with MS and Samsung phones.

 

[bradavon]

The fact that Phone Link lowers the resolution is purely a plus for me. OneDrive keeps the resolution at max levels, so that's always an option. But if I just want to grab a quick photo for an email or to include in an SMS message, w/o Phone Link's resolution-lowering effect, I'd have to do it manually to avoid emailing a multi-MB file.

Fair enough.

It should allow you configured whether it crops photos or not though.

Interesting on the new file access. Are you sure that's completely independent of Phone Link? I can't argue that one way or the other, but had assumed it was related to Phone Link.

Maybe programmatically coding but not no directly. It's part of the same idea but File Access and Phone Camera access don't require Phone Link being setup.

Phone Link is an app, those are stored separately in Settings.

The Android App support is particularly poor.