Windows 11 Now Lets You Access Your iPhone from the Start Menu

[n-evo]

I bet it works better than macOS continuity handoff

Works perfect on my end.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

I bet it works better than macOS continuity handoff and the new gimmicky iPhone remote control.

You would be wrong. Phone Link has a horrible history of barely working and when it works it’s on flagship Samsung phones.

Until this actually ships to a supported version (not beta) I am going to assume it will be both buggy and limited. Little things like group iMessages won’t work or not supporting images in iMessage etc.

 

[JonathanX64]

Nice! Microsoft's 'Phone Link' for Android phones on Windows has become increasingly responsive and reliable. Great to see they are now including iPhones too. I regularly use Phone Link to read and write SMS messages on my laptop (especially useful for copying over two factor authentication codes) and getting images from my phone to share/save/use.

I'd love Apple to mutually reciprocate this and allow Android phones to connect to Macs with an app that offers similar functionality to Phone Link/iPhone Mirroring. I expect pigs to be flying before this ever happens though.

You can use Texty from App Store; it's a third-party client for Google Messages.

 

[jakey rolling]

Ah, good question. I don't have that need so have never attempted this - I'm afraid I can't help you with an answer on this.

Phone Link functionality isn't as feature rich as the iPhone/Mac integration (just SMS, pictures, phone calls, notifications so no phone mirroring) but I'll take that over nothing.
Edit: I've just found out you can share files Android<->PC, and make your phone play a sound for 20s to help you find it. Both useful features, although I've been solving the share file problem using OneDrive for years already.

Windows Phone Link has had phone mirroring for literally years, including the ability to run multiple Phone apps in independent windows within Windows:

(those two above are running from my phone right now, just for this example)

 

[brofkand]

It would be nice if Apple would expose continuity features to Microsoft so Windows users could enjoy them as well.

 

[JonathanX64]

These phone integration features are absolutely useless tho. I tried iPhone Mirroring in Sequoia, but I just don’t see the value.

I’d much rather use native desktop apps or even websites than a tiny phone screen in a window.

 

[H2SO4]

I still have the hard disk, so ner!

Windows 11 Now Lets You Access Your iPhone from the Start Menu​

The above is still true, regardless of what you did, so yer!

 

[knappeduivel]

I will not install an operating system that does not allow me to have the task bar vertically on the left.

Sorry to hear that. Maybe your mother can install it for you? (I prefer it on the right)

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

I bet it works better than macOS continuity handoff and the new gimmicky iPhone remote control.

Many people really like that feature, actually.

 

[AppleTO]

The is still over a standard Bluetooth protocol though, so your messages won’t sync beyond what is received while you are connected and sending messages is only plain text. The functionality is meant for use in cars.

I tried this back when Microsoft first added iPhones to the Phone Link app. It was very buggy at the time and my phone wouldn’t stay connected. Perhaps it’s improved since.

 

[Padaung]

Windows Phone Link has had phone mirroring for literally years

I believe this is only for (select?) Samsung phones. Sadly it isn't an available option with my Google Pixel 8.

 

[jakey rolling]

I believe this is only for (select?) Samsung phones. Sadly it isn't an available option with my Google Pixel 8.

Ahh, I didn't realize that. I can see that it is predominantly Samsung devices that work with Phone Link - for some reason I thought that Microsoft had expanded it to a lot more devices in recent years.

 

[Rich74]

To connect my iPhone I need Bluetooth with low energy.

Erm? Help!

EDIT: lol, I don't have Bluetooth on the desktop pc.

 

[mazz0]

Wait, do this lets you use Messages from a Windows PC? That’ll actually be pretty useful when I’m playing games.

 

[SnowPenguin]

This is a nice feature actually. I wonder if I can do the same with a 3rd-party software, because I totally don't trust Microsoft.

 

[Skyscraperfan]

Sorry to hear that. Maybe your mother can install it for you? (I prefer it on the right)

Right would also be okay, but having it on the bottom does not make sense. I know that there are third party hacks that allow you to place the task bar on the left or right, but those might stop working after every Windows update.

 

[Paddle1]

I was pretty impressed by how much it "just works". I tried linking it once and since then it always reconnected if I turned on the PC without me having to do anything.

Useful if you get a code via text, a copy button even appears so you can enter it more easily.

 

[Iconoclysm]

wait so it’s possible to see iPhone’s battery status ON WINDOWS but it’s not possible on MacOS with it’s battery widget?

Click on the wifi icon, you will see your phone there, and its battery

 

[Iconoclysm]

Go two levels down in the Windows 11 interface and its all Windows 95 and all the horrible things therein - MS should be brave enough to write a new OS from ground up thats compatible and runs ‘properly’ on ARM - cos who else uses x86 anymore.

That makes zero sense. Everything since Windows 2000 has been built on Windows NT, which is a completely different kernel. What you're trying to say is that you can find graphical elements from old versions of Windows in menus...but I don't think you even know what two levels down means.

 

[Astuces iOS]

Mac user here, this wouldn’t make me switch to windows !

 

[joecomo]

will it work on ARM Windows 11?

 

[cigz]

Click on the wifi icon, you will see your phone there, and its battery

Where is it?

 

[MrMojo1]

Windows Phone Link has had phone mirroring for literally years, including the ability to run multiple Phone apps in independent windows within Windows:
View attachment 2477273

(those two above are running from my phone right now, just for this example)

How did you get it to work?
Using a PC with W10 using Phone Link, finally got BT to connect to 13 PM.
Now what?
Phone Link still goes through setup process even though PC and iPhone are both linked via BT and confirmed in iPhone and PC BT settings.
Thanks!

 

[rviets]

I will not install an operating system that does not allow me to have the task bar vertically on the left.

Came here to say the same thing!

 

[mxrider88]

Works perfect on my end.

Yeah?
Try to start typing a message from iPhone and use continuity to finish it on the Mac, does it work?

Try to write an email on Mac, attach a file, use continuity to bring it to iPhone, does the attachment get transferred?

Does continuity camera always work if you have two Mac user accounts logged in on the Mac? And personal hotspot? Two user accounts logged in is the key here in this case.

Does Universal Clipboard work 100% of the time?

Are sms messages always perfectly in sync between Mac and iPhone?


I must have a special version of macOS and iOS with all the bugs!