New Windows program lets you share with your computer from your phone

Microsoft Build brought the announcement that Windows will allow both iOS and Android devices to become integrated with PCs through an app that is installed with Windows. (photo/Microsoft)

“Coming in a future release of Window, we will be shipping an inbox app that will allow you to get some of the key workloads right onto your PC, said Shilpa Ranganathan, General Manager of Microsoft.”

This announcement came at Microsoft Build on May 8, 2018.

The app will be able to be launched from your taskbar like any normal Windows app. Ranganathan describes the app as a permanent destination for your phone on your PC.

Some of the demonstrations on screen showed receiving, opening and replying to SMS messages on your phone in real time. The permissions that allow the connection between your phone and PC to exist can be disconnected at any time if you are conscious about your privacy.

Ranganathan said, “we’ve leveraged our knowledge of Martina’s identity and her devices in the Microsoft Graph to create a durable connection between er phone and PC.”

The data that is transferred between the two systems supposedly stays solely within those. There should be no information relayed except from your phone to your PC and back again.

This connection enables a style of integration that you haven’t been able to have on a PC prior to this. Some examples were photos being dragged from the desktop into the messenger, which then sent the photo as a text message. Pictures can also be transferred to your computer and edited in the app itself.

All notifications from your phone are able to be connected to either another Windows app or a website of your choosing, depending on how you want to receive messages on your computer.

There are no updates on when this app will be released.