There are quite a number of apps these days that have created desktop versions of their mobile counterparts. For example there is WhatsApp, Messenger, Slack, Skype, Discord, and so on. This basically allows users to keep chatting with their contacts on their computers without having to reach for their phones.
But what if there was something on your mobile device that you needed to do? Sure, reaching for your phone isn’t too difficult, but it can sometimes be a bit disruptive, and this is where Microsoft comes in. The company has announced that they are expanding on the Your Phone app by allowing users to stream Android apps from their mobile devices to their Windows 10 computers.
Users will also be able to pin apps to their Start Menu or Taskbar where it would make it seem like they are almost like a native Windows 10 app. If this sounds like a feature you might be interested in, here’s how you can get started, although we should point out that for now, the new Apps feature is pretty much limited to Samsung devices.
Ensure that both your Android phone and Windows 10 computer are connected to the same WiFi network
Launch the Your Phone app on Windows
Select Android
Log in using your Microsoft account
Launch the Your Phone app on Android and select “Is there a QR code on your PC?”
Scan the QR code displayed on your computer
You will be prompted on your phone to allow access to certain features like Phone, click Allow on them
How to run Android apps on Windows 10
Launch the Your Phone app on Windows 10
Select “Apps” from the navigation bar on the left
You will now see all the Android apps that are installed on your phone
Click on any of them to launch them
You will now be able to interact with those apps on your PC directly. Unless you have a Windows 10 laptop with a touchscreen display, you can interact with these apps using your mouse. According to Microsoft:
Single click will behave the same as any single touch/tap interaction
Right click anywhere on your phone screen to navigate to the previous page
Click and hold will behave the same as a tap/hold interaction
Click and hold and drag to select content
Mouse scroll to move between pages vertically or horizontally
Compatibility
Your Phone is compatible with most Android phones that run Android 9.0 or later, but the ability to stream your phone’s apps to your PC through Your Phone is currently limited to Samsung devices. The current Samsung devices that are supported include: