Microsoft updates the Your Phone app and allows you to use Android apps on Windows 10 computers. Find out what requirements to meet and how it works
Maybe you don't know, but starting with the Windows 10 update 1803 (i.e. the 2018 April Update) you have the ability to use your Android apps on your desktop PC or notebook. To do so you just need to install on Windows the Your Phone app, which you can find in the Microsoft Store.
Microsoft has made this feature and app available to bridge the gap between the mobile galaxy and Windows that came about with the withdrawal from the market of Windows Phone, essentially abandoned by Microsoft itself for over a year but officially defunct only in January this year. After an initial unveiling of Your Phone in early October 2018, Microsoft has now begun making it available for early smartphone models. Thanks to the Your Phone app, you can now mirror your smartphone in a Windows window to use your Android apps on a Windows 10 device equipped with a mouse and keyboard. Convenient, isn't it?
Check Your Phone compatibility
First of all, we should point out that Your Phone's mirroring functionality is currently very limited: only very few smartphones can use it: Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+, S9 and S9+. In the future, it will also be brought to other cell phone models, as long as they have two features: Android 7 or higher operating system and support for Bluetooth Low Energy Peripheral Role. Of course, the PC must also support this Bluetooth feature. To check the latter requirement on your computer, just open Device Manager by searching for it in the Start menu, then go to Bluetooth, select the Bluetooth controller of our PC and do Right > Properties. In the Properties list we'll have to search and select "Bluetooth radio supports Low Energy Peripheral Role": if the value will be <false>, then our PC won't be able to mirror the smartphone, otherwise yes.
How to enable Your Phone mirroring
If both our PC and smartphone are compatible with Bluetooth Low Energy Peripheral Role and Microsoft's app, then we'll be able to mirror the phone on Windows 10. After downloading and installing Your Phone we'll have to activate Bluetooth on both computer and smartphone and pair the devices. At this point we'll just have to open the Your Phone app to see the cell phone's screen reproduced on our PC or laptop monitor. Now we can use the mouse and keyboard to open and use the smartphone's apps, and when we're done, we can close the Your Phone app and go back to using the phone normally.