Subj : Windows 11 could soon get a cool feature to seamlessly link your
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Fri Oct 11 2024 16:00:06

Windows 11 could soon get a cool feature to seamlessly link your Android 
phone to the Start menu - and a nifty gamepad perk, too

Date:
Fri, 11 Oct 2024 14:52:47 +0000

Description:
A new Windows 11 preview brings deeper Android phone integration, a new 
on-screen keyboard for the Xbox controller, and more.

FULL STORY
======================================================================

A new preview for Windows 11 version 23H2 has been released with some nifty 
additions in terms of new features, including one that Phone Link fans will 
definitely enjoy. 

This is preview build 22631 (also known as KB5044380 in Microsoft s 
documentation) and it has arrived in the Release Preview channel of the 
Windows Insider Program . In other words, this is the final testing channel 
before release, meaning that in theory, the features therein should arrive as 
part of Novembers cumulative update for 23H2. 

One of the most interesting moves is on the phone front, and it means that if 
you have an Android device hooked up to your PC courtesy of the Phone Link 
app, youll soon be able to access content on your mobile right from Windows 
11s Start menu. Youll be able to check the status of your phones battery, 
listen to voice messages and look at photos, and continue recent activities 
that you were in the midst of on your handset  all right from the Start menu. 

To benefit, as mentioned youll need to have Phone Link set up with your 
Android phone, and for the moment, its an Android-only affair (Microsoft says 
that iOS support is coming soon, though). This feature will be managed in the 
Settings app, and youll need to head to Settings > Personalization > Start . 
(Image credit: Shutterstock/number-one) More features and fixes coming to 
Windows 11 

If you use an Xbox controller with your PC, build 22631 provides a new 
on-screen keyboard to allow typing using the controller, and also shortcuts 
that leverage the gamepads buttons (the X button is backspace, for example). 

With the broader Windows 11 interface, this preview also allows you to 
prevent apps from displaying suggestions to turn off notifications. 

Furthermore, newer PCs with a  Copilot  key can now customize this key to do 
something other than fire up the AI assistant, so it can be programmed to 
open a specific app. (With some limitations, mind you - this only works with 
signed MSIX apps, as we discussed when this feature was spotted in an earlier 
testing channel). 

Build 22631 also delivers fixes for various bugs in Windows 11 and Microsoft 
apps, including a Microsoft Teams issue, a battery power drain glitch for 
some devices while in standby mode, and a fix for multi-function printer 
problems. 

This is a very solid and thankfully uncontroversial update that brings nifty 
new ways to link your phone and Windows 11 PC, as well as addresses various 
bugs and performance issues. This is the kind of Windows 11 update I can get 
behind and as mentioned, hopefully, these features will be arriving in the 
November update for 23H2. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE... Windows 11 24H2 update 
yoinks 8.6GB of your precious drive space and refuses to give it back  but a 
fix is coming Windows 11 PCs could soon get the ability to set up much faster 
Wi-Fi hotspots to share their internet with other devices Microsoft announces 
Recall for Windows Insiders, other AI tools in major new Windows 11 release



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows/windows-11-could-soon-get-a-cool-f
eature-to-seamlessly-link-your-android-phone-to-the-start-menu-and-a-nifty-gam
epad-perk-too


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