14 DAY TRIAL // One of the biggest announcements of the month in the tech world, alongside the debut of the Samsung Galaxy Note20 and the Surface Duo going up for pre-order, is the launch of Android apps on Windows 10.
With this new feature, users running Microsoft’s desktop operating system can technically run their favorite Android apps right on the desktop through the Your Phone app that comes bundled with Windows 10.
And while it’s all possible with select Android phones running Android 9.0 or later, Android apps on the Windows 10 desktop have until now been available only for testers.
Beginning this week, Microsoft is making the same functionality available for non-testers too, which means that the general public can now try it out as well.
Windows 10 October 2018 Update or newer required
“We are excited to announce that the Your Phone apps feature which was highlighted during Aug 5th Samsung Unpacked event is now gradually rolling out to General Public. As a reminder, Your Phone apps feature allows you to instantly access your Android phone’s mobile apps directly from your Windows 10 PC,” Microsoft says in an announcement.
“You can conveniently pin your favorite mobile apps to your Taskbar or Start menu on your PC for quick and easy access. When you launch an app, it opens in a separate window outside of the Your Phone app enabling you to multitask. So, whether you need to quickly reply to a conversation, respond to your social posts, or order food, you can do it fast using your PC’s large screen, keyboard, mouse, pen and touch screen alongside your other PC apps!”
The new feature is gradually rolling out to users across the world, and you need at least Windows 10 October 2018 Update, as well as the Your Phone ap version 1.20071.88 and Link to Windows 2.9 (on your Samsung device). Both the phone and the PC must be on the same wireless network for this functionality to be available.