Windows 11 All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 1

Linking Android to Windows

IN THIS CHAPTER

Making Windows 11 cooperate with your Android device

Trying Samsung DeX

Checking out the Your Phone app

Using your smartphone as a webcam for your PC

We all know the saying: If you can’t beat them, join them! Well, that’s exactly what Microsoft did: It lost the mobile war and it decided to integrate itself into the mobile ecosystem that beat it: Android. Microsoft partnered with Samsung, the world’s biggest manufacturer of Android devices, and made a tight-knit integration with its ecosystem. As a result, owners of Samsung devices get Microsoft’s OneDrive, Office, and Your Phone Companion apps preinstalled by default. What’s Your Phone Companion, you ask? Well, it’s how Microsoft wants you to link your Android devices with your Windows ones.

With Your Phone, you can pair an Android smartphone with a Windows 11 PC, and access your smartphone from your PC, with a mouse and keyboard. If that sounds cool to you, you should read this chapter, because I also present Samsung’s take on this integration: Samsung DeX. You can try both apps ...