Your Phone App

As much as I hate all Microsoft Store Apps, I gave this a spin and was surprised it worked and is actually useful.

I can now view messages from my phone, make calls from my computer without even touching my phone, respond to SMS or chat message (ie. whatsapp) via the screen mirroring feature, access files and photos directly, even copy/paste text from my phone to the PC and vice versa.

After linking your phone, you need to enable all these features from the Settings section of the "Your Phone" app then when you access each section for the first time, you will need to accept the permission on your phone's screen.

Also, on your phone make sure you go to settings, then search for "Your phone companion" then scroll down to permissions and allow all the permissions.

For those of you who have had it work in the past and for some reason you are not able to get it to work anymore which happened to me today after I formatted my laptop, simply head to the Microsoft Account Page, then on the top, click on Devices, then you will see your phone listed there, click on the three dots on the top right of the phone then choose Unlink Device then proceed to linking it again by clicking Add a Device:



Here are some screenshots of the app in action:











Make Your Phone App Use Your Smartphone Wallpaper as Background

 

Thanks Spartan, for that excellent writeup. One question, does it work if you do not have cell service? Here in my part of Oregon, we do not have cell service.

 

Yes it does but you need to keep WiFi enabled though and you won't be able to make calls and SMS but every thing else should work.

PS: For Dell/Alienware owners, when clicking the Phone part to make calls from my PC I got a message saying g that u have an app installed that is preventing it. After some digging, turns out I had to Uninstall the Dell Mobile Drivers that came part of my Alienware Area-51M laptop. This is also there for all Dell laptops so be sure to check and you need to reboot after Uninstalling the Dell Mobile Drivers

 

I tried it out with my iPhone a while ago and was disappointed at the lack of functionality. Apparently, there is more with Android?

If so, I have a few questions!

How does the text messaging work?
Does your phone have to be on? Within cellular range? Within BT/WiFi range?
Can messaging be done without screen mirroring?
Does the messaging work with all messages (i.e, those sent before the phone was connected to the app), or does it only work with messages sent/received since adding the application?
Does it require running the application on the phone? Is it fulltime, or is it a background application you never have to touch?

 

When you click on Messages, it syncs whatever current SMS message you have so it doesn't matter if those messages were before you linked the phone, everything is mirrored.

How does it work? as simple operating it on the phone itself, you can view the messages or click New Message and then specify the recipient then type the message below.

The app runs full time so you don't even need to touch your phone. basically my phone is set aside on the desk I do everything from my laptop. I am able to do this because I added my laptop as a trusted device so the phone remains unlocked if it's within the vicinity of my laptop.

 

@jeremyshaw

I just took a photo of my Alienware laptop alongside my mouse that I wanted to share on reddit using my S20+, the moment I snapped the photo I instantly opened Your Phone app and it was there! so I right clicked on it and pasted it on my laptop! This is super convenient man! No more emailing pics to myself.

 

I used to use that daily and found it quite useful. One day it stopped working. Over a course of a few days, I spent a total of probably five or six hours doing all of the recommended troubleshooting steps I could find on the web, all of them more than once. I gave it a rest for a few weeks and tried all of the same steps again, to no avail. I could never get it to work again, so I gave up and uninstalled it from Windoze. The problem didn't seem to be the phone. It registered as a device and connected to my Micro$lop account the way it should. The laptop would no longer communicate with the phone.

 

Did you try removing it from the Store site as I mentioned in the OP then also unlink it from the Your Phone app? That fixed it for me after I formatted it wasn't working until I re-paired them.

 

Yup. Probably 5 or 6 times, maybe more. Nothing worked.

I also tried it on my desktop after repeated failures on the laptop (where I was originally using it) and got exactly the same result. It would get to the point of waiting for the PC to send the authorization to the phone and the phone would never receive it from the PC.

 

@Spartan great guide, thank you!

I love the concept, but despise the fact Your Phone requires a Microsoft account. I would use Your Phone if it allowed to sign in independently from all other Windows services, but as things are - no thanks.

For this, I use Syncthing. It is incredibly flexible and has useful additional features such as file history, without relying on any cloud services. While it is perfectly capable of running over the Internet thanks to relay services and strong encryption, I limited it to home network only for additional security.

I also heavily use Colornote, which is my favourite mobile notes app. The experience is stellar, unlike other notepad and text editor Android apps I tried over the years. It relies on cloud however, which invokes the question of trust towards developer. Desktop app is somewhat cumbersome but perfectly usable.

Then again, I don't really use SMS, and don't use headphones much thus making or receiving calls via laptop is not a feature I would use. What I do rely on is syncing photos and notes between the devices, and these needs are very well covered by Syncthing & Colornote respectively, making Your Phone mostly irrelevant for me.

 

Give mobile connect a try. It's dell so you can DL' it on your alienware without issue. I find it works great.

 

Yes I have now switched to Alienware Mobile Connect (which is the same as Dell Mobile Connect).
Previously I was not even able to install it since I did a clean install but then I found the solution, see: Fix for Windows Store: This app is not compatible with this device

 

Thanks for this, I've now managed to get it working after a few restarts.

 

I find it works really well now with iphone. Much better than the previous version. I can just imessage and call now without having my phone on etc. It's just on its charging pad and I send and receive messages and calls without issue. You have to have the app open, and some other things done in order to mirror the screen. After the novelty wore off mirroring is a nothing function for me as everything I do on my phone files wise is stored in onedrive. But the upgraded functionality of messaging and calling are great.

 

Reminds me of Blackberry Blend. Ah yes, Blackberry, good all times.
Now I have to use Android and Windows 10

 

I still miss BlackBerry after like what, maybe 8 or 10 years now? The real qwerty keyboard and trackball is still vastly superior to the disgusting touch input rubbish that has become the norm. I hated touch the first time I tried it and still hate it as much today.

 

Agreed, you can blame Jim balsillie for that. He was all caught up in fighting the NHL for a team for waterloo that he let blackberry die. Dummy.

 

Not even in a hundred light years will touch screens even come near the precision and the fun of the tactile feedback of a physical QWERTY keyboard. BlackBerry for life.
One of the best phones I had, Bold 9900, that thing had 3 days battery life, superb size as it still had the size of a phone not a freakin' phablet like all phones now are.

 

Agreed. The iPhone 678 is the largest phone I want. 1020, 650 950 are what are interesting me again.

I may even get a passport and 9900 for s&g as well.