The Windows 10 October 2020 Update is scheduled for release next month, but you probably guessed that by its name. Now members of the Windows Insider Preview program can take the release candidate build for a spin by downloading the latest Release Preview Channel build.

Meanwhile a feature that used to only be available for Windows Insiders is now open to everyone — if you’re using the Your Phone app to pair your Android smartphone with a Windows PC there’s a new Apps feature that lets you view and interact with Android apps on the big screen.

That means you can chat, respond to notifications, and even play some games without looking away from your PC or unlocking your phone. But if you don’t have a Samsung phone you’re out of luck for now – the list of officially supported devices is basically a long list of Samsung phones.

Not even Microsoft’s own Android phone is included… although in other Surface Duo news, Windows Central has an interesting look into the dual-screen smartphone’s origins as a foldable Windows device.

Microsoft Your Phone app

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6 replies on “Lilbits: Android apps on your PC (kind of)”

  1. I’m still not convinced anyone needs this. There’s a desktop client application or website that does the same stuff as whatever phone app, pretty much except for calls and sms/mms or stuff like the phone camera.
    What about your files? Well, people can do what they want but it’s probably a bad idea to keep everything on your phone. You can expect to take that everywhere and show people things on it, and that means you can only keep the files you WANT people to see on it. Stuff you like but might make you look bad has to stay home.
    It’s certainly convenient for the well-connected sociable person who gets a new message from someone every five minutes, but it’s not like they use Samsung phones exclusively.
    So why am I not allowed to uninstall Your Phone?

  2. Can you play the internal sounds on
    the Android phone on your PC, such
    as the mp3 music on your phone?

  3. Ugh. Windows is coming to resemble a cheap, Android phone, preloaded with crapware. MS effectively broke Internet browsing on my low-spec Kangaroo (Atom x5-z8500 with 2GB of RAM and a 32GB eMMC) with resource-creep earlier this year; the chief task of this machine has been attempting to keep Windows 10 updated and its updates have to represent most of the wear on its eMMC; I presume that millions of other similar devices are in the same predicament. The discovery of Candy Crush among my Windows programs after a recent update really is too much. I’m reminded of an malware-infected Obamaphone I had that came preloaded with random games and other junk — which replaced them with more as soon as I made room by deleting some. I’ve finally succeeded in getting the defective UEFI implementation to recognize external boot media, but I’d already managed to install Porteus on the internal drive — Firefox will no longer load a single tab under Windows; in Porteus, I can load multiple tabs including Youtube with RAM to spare. End-users, though, can no longer use these devices for much of anything — how many are simply being discarded because of the mistaken impression that they don’t work or that they’re obsolete?

    1. @Robert, can you install Linux on it? If you absolutely have to stick to Windows, there’s also LTSC.

      eMMC wear? That’s interesting. Should I worry about the soldered eMMC dies before the useful lifespan of the machine?

    2. I have personally pretty much ditched my 1st gen Compute Stick because it’s just too slow. I managed to update it to Windows 10 2004 but it was such a hassle. I also gave away a tablet with the same z3735 processor to my niece as it auffers from the same slowness issue. The minimum for me now is 4/64 for any device. Only 1 exception for the Liva Q connected to the TV with 4/32 because I only use it for YouTube and VLC.

  4. I have a Samsung Galaxy J7. It used to work with MyPhone, but no longer does. I used to be able to originate and answer calls and texts on my computer. They no longer work. Thanks for upgrading the app, NOT. 🙁 🙁 🙁

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