Windows Your Phone Now Runs Multiple Android Apps On More Phones

Microsoft has been trying to bridge the gap between its so far one and only operating system and the mobile OS it at least has some influence over. Windows 10's Your Phone app tries to link almost all Android phones in some ways but its full potential is only realized if you have the latest high-end Samsung phones. It sometimes doesn't even work for older high-end Samsung phones. That changes a bit today now that Samsung's 2019 flagship can finally use one of Your Phone's most compelling features.

At its most basic, the Windows 10 Your Phone app lets Android phone owners see their notifications on their desktops and even reply to text messages from their PCs. They can also access the phone's photo gallery or copy files between devices but only through the Your Phone main window. Some Samsung devices also get the ability to mirror their phone's screen but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Your Phone also has an Apps feature that lets you actually run multiple Android apps on your desktop as if they were native Windows apps. In the past, that was limited to three apps only at a time but it has since expanded to run more than that. The only restriction is still the devices that support that feature.

MSPowerUser noticed that the list was silently expanded to include the Galaxy Fold and the Galaxy Note 10 series, including the Galaxy Note 10 Lite. These are phones that were launched back in 2019 so it wasn't certain they'd still get some attention. Curiously, the 2020 Galaxy S20 was just added to that list as well.

Windows Your Phone definitely puts an interesting spin on the partnership between Microsoft and Samsung. Unfortunately, the supported features on different supported phones can be quite a confusing mess. There are, of course, third-party tools that try to offer some of these features but it's hard to beat a deeper integration when the OEM is the one working directly with Microsoft.