What you need to know
- Microsoft has finally announced iPhone support for Windows 11’s Phone Link app.
- Phone Link for iOS is available starting today in preview for Windows Insiders.
- This first preview includes support for notifications, messages and photos.
It’s finally happening! Microsoft has today announced that its Phone Link app on Windows 11 is gaining support for the iPhone, with a limited preview rolling out starting today for select Windows Insiders. This marks the first time since Phone Link was first announced that iPhone users will be able to sync their iPhone notifications, messages, and calls with Windows PCs natively.
Phone Link for iOS uses Bluetooth to function, unlike Phone Link for Android which functions with a companion app that is installed directly onto the phone. For an iPhone, setting up Phone Link is as simple as connecting to your PC via Bluetooth and following the setup process in the Phone Link app.
This first preview only supports messages, calls, and notifications. Replying to group messages and sending media messages is not supported by Phone Link for iOS currently. There’s also no screen sharing functionality either, but that’s understandable for a first preview.
Phone Link for iOS was announced alongside the unveiling of Microsoft’s first Windows 11 feature drop for 2023, which includes a handful of other new features including a tablet-optimized Taskbar, a full-screen widgets panel, improvements to in-box apps such as Notepad and Snipping Tool, Bing Chat in Windows Search, and much more.
The Phone Link update is only available in limited preview with select Windows Insiders in any of the three Windows Insider Channels, which include Release Preview, Beta Channel, and Dev Channel. This means this functionality isn’t (yet) available as part of this new Windows 11 feature drop, but it should hopefully begin rolling out to more users over the next several weeks and months.
Adding support for iPhone finally allows Phone Link to compete with other smartphone syncing applications available on Windows, such as Intel Unison. That said, Intel Unison is still ahead in terms of features, with support for viewing photos and transferring files, both of which Phone Link is still missing with iPhone.
