This link between your Android device and PC gives you instant access to everything you love. From your PC, you can connect to select Android, Samsung, and select HONOR devices with the Link to Windows app that's either preinstalled on your device or that you can download from the Google Play or Samsung Galaxy Store. The Phone Link experience starts on your Windows PC and the Phone Link app. For more information, see Introducing Microsoft Phone Link and Link to Windows. In addition, the Your Phone Companion app for Android is now called Link to Windows.

Those who join the early-stage Windows Insider Program will be able to try out the Phone Companion app in a few weeks, while the Cortana companion will launch on Android phones at the end of June, followed by iPhones “later this year.Note: We’ve changed the name of the Your Phone app to Microsoft Phone Link. This means you won’t be able to complete actions such as opening apps, which requires a specific integration with a device’s microphone. There will be some limitations with Cortana on Android and iOS though, simply because of access restrictions to the respective mobile operating systems. The Cortana companion app will basically serve as a bridge for things you start doing on your laptop and wish to continue later. Microsoft’s Cortana digital assistant has been likened to Apple’s Siri in the past, in that you can ask it questions and get it to remind you to do certain things. It also helps encourage users to move over to a Microsoft OneDrive subscription.

And this is why Microsoft is looking to help those on Android and iOS (the vast majority of the smartphone market) sync all their files and documents across their devices. This has meant catering heavily to Android and iOS and doubling down on its efforts in the PC sphere - a realm where Windows still rules the roost. With Microsoft struggling to gain a solid foothold with Windows Phone, even in the wake of its Nokia Devices acquisition, the Seattle-based company has been refocusing its efforts on software.

Microsoft your phone companion app