Phone Companion is a discontinued app advertising and file transfer utility included with

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...

and available for

Windows 10 Mobile Windows 10 Mobile is the fourth and final generation of Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system, succeeding Windows Phone 8.1. First released in 2015, it was marketed by Microsoft as being an Windows 10 editions, edition of its Per ...

. It provided a partial list of Microsoft apps that are available on Android, and Windows 10 Mobile. In order to use the Phone Companion, users had to sign in with a Microsoft Account, which would sync installation progress across devices. It was replaced by the

Phone Link Phone Link, previously Your Phone, is a syncing software developed by Microsoft to connect Windows PCs to Android and iOS mobile devices to view notifications, make phone calls, use mobile apps amongst others, via the PC. It is a native componen ...

app in the October 2018 Update, but can still be accessed on prior versions.

App advertising

The first screen allows users to choose a type of mobile device that they own. Once the user has chosen, a second screen presents the user with information on some of the available apps. Under the listing for Windows phones, there is a link to view available devices. On the Windows 10 Mobile screen, users are shown a list of apps that are already built-into their phone's system: Cortana,

Photos A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. The process and prac ...

Groove Groove or Grooves may refer to: Music * Groove (music) * Groove (drumming) * The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s * The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station * Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station ...

, Movies & TV, OneNote,

Skype Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...

, "Office" (

Word A word is a basic element of language that carries semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguist ...

, Excel, and PowerPoint only in this listing), and

Outlook Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, also referred to as ''the classic Outlook'' an e-mail client and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook for Windows, also referred to as ''the ...

. Clicking on an icon in the list provides a description of what the app does. It is not clear why OneNote, Outlook, Sway, Delve, and Office Lens are not included in the Office category. If the user selects the Android or the iOS screen, they will see a list of apps available for that mobile operating system, all of which support Microsoft account sign-ins: Cortana,

OneDrive Microsoft OneDrive is a file-hosting service operated by Microsoft. First released as SkyDrive in August 2007, it allows registered users to store, share, back-up and synchronize their files. OneDrive also works as the storage Frontend and backe ...

, Groove, OneNote, Skype, "Office", and Outlook. There is a Get Started button below each. Clicking on one will lead the user to a series of steps with a description of the app or bundle, spot for emailing a link to the app on the mobile device's store, and button for marking that the app has been downloaded onto a mobile device. Microsoft does not list its cross-platform apps for

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

, Solitaire Collection,

Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...

Sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

News News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

Weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

, Sway, Delve, Office Lens,

GroupMe GroupMe (also stylized as groupme) is a mobile group messaging app owned by Microsoft. It was launched in May 2010 by the private company GroupMe. In August 2011, GroupMe delivered over 100 million messages each month and by June 2012, that numb ...

, or

Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...

on the Phone Companion.

File transfer

Phone Companion can detect when a phone or tablet is plugged into the PC and displays the name of the device and manufacturer. When a phone is plugged in, Phone Companion links to the transfer activity in Photos or the phone's storage location in

File Explorer File Explorer, previously known as Windows Explorer, is a file manager application and default desktop environment that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user i ...

. Because File Explorer and Photos can handle file transfers on their own, Phone Companion is not required for file transfers. What it offers users is a visible shortcut to the transfer activities, of which users may have been unaware previously. Due to the security policies of iOS, it is not possible to transfer files from a PC to an iPhone or an iPad using File Explorer.

References

External links

* {{Microsoft Windows components Windows components Universal Windows Platform apps