Phone Link now has its own widget on Windows 11

Jan 27, 2023 06:33 GMT  ·  By

The widget experience on Windows 11 keeps getting better and better, and after the Messenger app, which received its very own widget in the latest Dev channel build, here comes another important release.

PhantomOcean3 has revealed on reddit that Phone Link is getting a widget as well, with the new feature included in the latest app update.

Phone Link, originally known as Your Phone, allows users to pair their Android devices with Windows 11 PCs, getting access to features like notifications, the photo gallery, and even screen mirroring right from their desktops.

With the widget, which is available in version 1.230011.73.0 for users who are enrolled in the Dev channel of the Windows Insider program, Phone Link can display the notifications right in the widgets board. Noticed by the German site Deskmodder, the new widget is the second big release after Facebook Messenger.

Microsoft announced the new Messenger widget as part of the latest preview build, explaining that more such releases would come in the next few weeks.

“With the release of Windows App SDK 1.2 developers are now able to create widgets for their apps. Users can access these experiences on their Windows 11 widgets board in current Dev Channel Insider Preview builds. Ready to try out a new widget? The Messenger app now has a preview version of its widget available. To give it a try, go to the Microsoft Store and update to the latest version of Messenger. Then open the widgets board and navigate to the widgets picker by clicking the “+” button at the top-right of the board to pin your widget,” Microsoft said.

For the time being, the new widgets remain exclusive to insiders, but it shouldn’t take too long before they go live for production devices as well.