Phone Link Features Are Coming to Windows 11’s Start Menu

Microsoft has started testing the integration of Phone Link features into the Windows 11 Start Menu. This will allow Windows 11 users with a connected Android phone to view their phone’s battery status and connectivity, messages, calls, photos, and more right from the Start Menu.

This new Phone Link integration into the Start Menu will gradually roll out to Insiders on the Beta Channel who have turned out the Windows Update toggle to get the latest features as they’re available. The new experience requires the just-released Windows 11 Beta build 22635.3790, as well as Phone Link version 1.24052.124.0 and higher.

This new integration should make it easier to keep up with the latest activities from a connected phone without opening the Phone Link app. The Windows Insider team said today that support for iPhones will come at a later date.

Phone Link comes preinstalled on Windows 11, but the app has been around since the Windows 10 era when it launched as “Your Phone” (https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/165150/hands-phone-windows-10). This has been Microsoft’s integrated solution to make phone features available from Windows, and this new integration into the Windows 11 Start Menu should give it an edge over third-party solutions.

In addition to this new Phone Link integration, Microsoft has also started testing viewer and import enhancements for its Photos app. If you’re a Windows Insider on the Canary or Dev Channel, an app update is available with new device import options, a dynamic zoom slider and photo metadata information shown at the bottom of the Photos Viewer, and other improvements.