What you need to know
- The Samsung DeX Windows app will no longer be supported on Samsung phones with the upcoming OneUI 7 update.
- DeX for Windows enabled the ability to turn any Windows PC into a DeX device, powered by your Samsung smartphone.
- Now, Samsung recommends users switch to Microsoft Phone Link in place of Samsung DeX.
Samsung is killing off DeX for Windows, an app that let you turn any Windows PC into a Samsung DeX environment powered by your phone. While DeX itself is sticking around, Samsung users will no longer be able to use a Windows PC to access DeX starting with OneUI 7 coming next year.
Curiously, Samsung is recommending that DeX for Windows users switch to Microsoft Phone Link, which offers similar (but not identical) functionality. This is mentioned in a footnote on the Samsung DeX website:
“The DeX for PC on Windows OS will end support from One UI 7 version. We encourage customers to connect mobile phone and PC through the Link to Windows feature.”
Microsoft Phone Link lets you sync your phone’s notifications and text messages to your PC, and even lets you run individual phone apps directly on the Windows 11 desktop.
It doesn’t offer direct access to the DeX environment, however, so users looking for that functionality will need to source dedicated DeX peripherals to regain that functionality. Microsoft and Samsung have worked in close partnership on Phone Link, with Samsung phones often getting early access to new features first.
Phone Link for Windows is genuinely great, but it’s no DeX replacement as it doesn’t offer direct access to the DeX desktop environment. With that said, the number of people who were using a Windows PC to access Samsung DeX was likely very low to begin with, which is likely why Samsung is killing support for DeX for Windows.
Samsung DeX itself isn’t going anywhere it seems. You’ll still be able to access DeX by plugging your phone into a large TV or monitor, or a device like the NextDock which is designed specifically for devices that offer a DeX-like environment. Of course, DeX is the modern day Continuum, Microsoft’s own version of a PC in your pocket back in the Windows Phone days.
(via Android Authority, The Verge)
