Setting up and using phone screen in the Your Phone app

Phone screen allows you to interact with all your favorite Android apps and device content directly on your PC, through a Wi-Fi connection.

To use phone screen, you’ll need:

A PC running Windows 10 October 2018 Update or later. However, we always recommend updating to the latest version available.

To check and update your Windows version, on your PC go to Settings > Updates & Security > Check for update.

To confirm you are running Windows 10 October 2018 Update (or later), on your PC go to Settings > System > About and check your version number under Windows specifications. It should read either 1809 or higher).

Your PC also needs to be using a graphics card (GPU) that supports DirectX11. Learn how to check your version of DirectX

Your Android device and PC must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

You will need to have a supported Android device. Check the list of supported devices to verify yours will work.

Open the Your Phone app and go to Phone screen.

Follow the setup instructions. You may receive a permissions request to access information on your Android device. Allowing these permissions lets the Your Phone app display content from your device.

If you encounter issues while setting up Phone screen, these troubleshooting tips may help.

What devices are supported?

Phone screen is available on Android devices in select markets running Android 9.0 or greater that have Link to Windows installed (for some devices, it may be preinstalled).

Here are some examples of devices that have Link to Windows installed and will work with Phone screen:

Samsung Galaxy Note9 series

Samsung Galaxy S9 series

Samsung Galaxy Note10 series

Samsung Galaxy S10 series

Samsung Galaxy S20 series

Samsung Galaxy Note20 series

Samsung Galaxy Fold

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip

How do I interact with Phone screen?

You can use your PC’s mouse, trackpad, keyboard, or touch-enabled screen to open, type, scroll, and interact with apps.

Tips for interacting using mouse and keyboard:

Single click will behave as any single touch tap interaction

Right click anywhere on your Android device screen to navigate to the previous page

Click and hold to open a context menu

Click and hold and drag for text selection

Mouse scroll to move screen vertically

Some games and apps might not respond to interactions from a mouse or keyboard connected to your PC. You’ll need to use a touch-enabled PC to interact with them.

For your Surface Duo:

Gestures such as the ones used to navigate back or to the home screen on the device can be replicated with your mouse on your PC by clicking and dragging quickly from the edge of your Android device screen window. If you have trouble replicating them, we recommend turning on 3- button navigation:

You can enable 3-button navigation on your Surface Duo for easier interaction. In your device Settings, go to System > Gestures > System navigation and turn on 3-button navigation.

How do I switch keyboard language or layout?

When you type using your PC’s keyboard the layout and language is controlled by a setting on your Android device for physical keyboards. It won’t be affected by the language of the keyboard you’re using on your PC.

You can click on the keyboard language button when you are using the phone screen feature. This will launch the keyboard language settings where you can choose the language of your preference.

When you are using a physical keyboard with the Your Phone app, you can also manually change your language or layout settings at any time.

On your Android device:

Open your Settings > General Management > Language and input.

If you have a Surface Duo, go to Settings > System instead.

Under keyboards, tap Physical keyboard.

Select the keyboard that you’re using on your Android device (E.g. SwiftKey, Microsoft Virtual Keyboard, or Samsung Keyboard).

Choose a language or layout.

You’ll need to change this setting whenever you want to type using another layout or language.

Tip: When using Phone screen, if you have multiple languages or layouts added, you can use the keyboard shortcut Shift + Space to switch languages.

Why has my device’s screen turned off while using phone screen?

We provide you with the option to have your Android phone screen turn black while connected in phone screen. In this state, your screen will appear to be off—this is to protect the privacy of your personal phone content and minimize battery consumption.

How to interact with the black screen

There are several ways you can dismiss the black screen if you need to interact directly with your Android phone:

Press the power button

Swipe your device screen

However, if you receive a call while the black screen is active, your screen will appear as normal.

How to disable the black screen

If you’d like to use phone screen without the black screen showing, follow the steps below.

In the Your Phone app, open Settings.

In the Phone screen section, find the option to “Hide my Android device’s screen while it’s connected to my PC.” Turn this toggle off. You can change this setting at anytime if you’d like the black screen to show again.

Note: This setting is not available for Surface Duo.

Setting up Apps in the Your Phone app

With Your Phone apps, you can instantly access the Android apps installed on your mobile device right on your PC. Using a Wi-Fi connection, Apps allows you to browse, play, order, chat, and more – all while using your PC’s larger screen and keyboard. You can add your Android apps as favorites on your PC, pin them to your Start menu and taskbar, and open them in separate windows to use side-by-side with apps on your PC – helping you stay productive.

What do I need to use Apps?

To use Apps, you will need:

A PC running the Windows 10 May 2019 Update or later. To check and update your version of Windows, on your PC go to Settings > Updates & Security > Check for update.

Your PC also needs to be using a graphics card (GPU) that supports DirectX11. Learn how to check your version of DirectX

An Android device running Android 9.0 or greater, with Link to Windows. See the full list of supported devices here.

Your Android device and PC to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

Apps works for Your Phone app versions 1.20082.141.0 or higher. Older versions of the Your Phone app will show the previous phone screen experience.

What do I need to run multiple apps on my PC at a time?

A PC running the Windows 10 May 2020 Update or later. For best performance, we recommend having at least 8GB of RAM.

An Android device running Android 11.0.

On your Android device, you need Link to Windows version 2.1.05.6 or higher, or Your Phone Companion version 1.20104.15.0 or higher.

Multiple apps works for Your Phone versions 1.20104.20.0 or higher.

How do I set up Apps?

On your PC, open the Your Phone app and select Apps. Follow the setup instructions. If you encounter issues, here are some troubleshooting tips.

What devices are supported?

Apps is available on select Samsung devices that have Link to Windows, and a few recent ones are listed below. If your Android device is running Android 11¹ or higher, you may be eligible for the multiple apps experience. Those devices have an asterisk* next to them.

Samsung Galaxy Fold*

Samsung Galaxy Note20 5G*

Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G*

Samsung Galaxy S20*

Samsung Galaxy S20+*

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE*

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra*

Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip*

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5G*

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G*

The full list of supported devices can be found here.

¹ Android 11 availability depends on your mobile device, market availability, and your mobile provider.

Guidelines for app settings

App settings are the user-customizable portions of your Windows app accessed through an app settings page. For example, a news reader app might let the user specify which news sources to display or how many columns to display on the screen, while a weather app could let the user choose between Celsius and Fahrenheit. This article provides recommendations and best practices for creating and displaying app settings.

When to provide a settings page

Here are examples of app options that belong in an app settings page:

• Configuration options that affect the behavior of the app and don’t require frequent readjustment, like choosing between Celsius or Fahrenheit as default units for temperature in a weather app, changing account settings for a mail app, settings for notifications, or accessibility options.
• Options that depend on the user’s preferences, like music, sound effects, or color themes.
• App information that isn’t accessed very often, such as privacy policy, help, app version, or copyright info.

Commands that are part of the typical app workflow (for example, changing the brush size in an art app) shouldn’t be in a settings page. To learn more about command placement, see Command design basics.

General recommendations

• Keep settings pages simple and make use of binary (on/off) controls. A toggle switch is usually the best control for a binary setting.
• For settings that let users choose one item from a set of up to 5 mutually exclusive, related options, use radio buttons.
• Create an entry point for all app settings in your app setting’s page.
• Keep your settings simple. Define smart defaults and keep the number of settings to a minimum.
• When a user changes a setting, the app should immediately reflect the change.
• Don’t include commands that are part of the common app workflow.

Entry point

The way that users get to your app settings page should be based on your app’s layout.

Navigation pane

For a nav pane layout, app settings should be the last item in the list of navigational choices and be pinned to the bottom:

App bar

If you’re using an app bar or tool bar, place the settings entry point as one of the last items in the «More» overflow menu. If greater discoverability for the settings entry point is important for your app, place the entry point directly on the app bar and not within the overflow.

Hub

If you’re using a hub layout, the entry point for app settings should be placed inside the «More» overflow menu of an app bar.

Tabs/pivots

For a tabs or pivots layout, we don’t recommended placing the app settings entry point as one of the top items within the navigation. Instead, the entry point for app settings should be placed inside the «More» overflow menu of an app bar.

List-details

Instead of burying the app settings entry point deeply within a list-details pane, make it the last pinned item on the top level of the list pane.

Layout

The app settings window should open full-screen and fill the whole window. If your app settings menu has up to four top-level groups, those groups should cascade down one column.

«Color mode» settings

If your app allows users to choose the app’s color mode, present these options using radio buttons or a combo box with the header «Choose an app mode». The options should read

We also recommend adding a hyperlink to the Colors page of the Windows Settings app where users can access and modify the current default app mode. Use the string «Windows color settings» for the hyperlink text and ms-settings:colors for the URI.

About section and Feedback button

We recommend placing «About this App» section in your app either as a dedicated page or in its own section. If you want a «Send Feedback» button, place that toward the bottom of the «About this App» page.

Under a «Legal» subheader, place any «Terms of Use» and «Privacy Statement» (should be hyperlink buttons with wrapping text) as well as additional legal information, such as copyright.

Recommended page content

Once you have a list of items that you want to include in your app settings page, consider these guidelines:

Group similar or related settings under one settings label.

Try to keep the total number of settings to a maximum of four or five.

Display the same settings regardless of the app context. If some settings aren’t relevant in a certain context, disable those in the app settings flyout.

Use descriptive, one-word labels for settings. For example, name the setting «Accounts» instead of «Account settings» for account-related settings. If you only want one option for your settings and the settings don’t lend themselves to a descriptive label, use «Options» or «Defaults.»

If a setting directly links to the web instead of to a flyout, let the user know this with a visual clue, such as «Help (online)» or «Web forums» styled as a hyperlink. Consider grouping multiple links to the web into a flyout with a single setting. For example, an «About» setting could open a flyout with links to your terms of use, privacy policy, and app support.

Combine less-used settings into a single entry so that more common settings can each have their own entry. Put content or links that only contain information in an «About» setting.

Don’t duplicate the functionality in the «Permissions» pane. Windows provides this pane by default and you can’t modify it.

Add settings content to Settings flyouts

Present content from top to bottom in a single column, scrollable if necessary. Limit scrolling to a maximum of twice the screen height.

Use the following controls for app settings:

• Toggle switches: To let users set values on or off.
• Radio buttons: To let users choose one item from a set of up to 5 mutually exclusive, related options.
• Text input box: To let users enter text. Use the type of text input box that corresponds to the type of text you’re getting from the user, such as an email or password.
• Hyperlinks: To take the user to another page within the app or to an external website. When a user clicks a hyperlink, the Settings flyout will be dismissed.
• Buttons: To let users initiate an immediate action without dismissing the current Settings flyout.

Add a descriptive message if one of the controls is disabled. Place this message above the disabled control.

Animate content and controls as a single block after the Settings flyout and header have animated. Animate content using the enterPage or EntranceThemeTransition animations with a 100px left offset.

Use section headers, paragraphs, and labels to aid organize and clarify content, if necessary.

If you need to repeat settings, use an additional level of UI or an expand/collapse model, but avoid hierarchies deeper than two levels. For example, a weather app that provides per-city settings could list the cities and let the user tap on the city to either open a new flyout or expand to show the settings options.

If loading controls or web content takes time, use an indeterminate progress control to indicate to users that info is loading. For more info, see Guidelines for progress controls.

Don’t use buttons for navigation or to commit changes. Use hyperlinks to navigate to other pages, and instead of using a button to commit changes, automatically save changes to app settings when a user dismisses the Settings flyout.