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Microsoft announces app mirroring to let you use any Android app on Windows 10

Microsoft announces app mirroring to let you use any Android app on Windows 10

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Helping fill the gap left by the Windows Phone

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Microsoft announced a new feature for Windows 10 today that will let Android phone users view and use any app on their device from a Windows desktop. The feature, which Microsoft is referring to as app mirroring and shows up in Windows as an app called Your Phone, seems to be work best with Android for now. Although Microsoft did announce the ability to transfer webpages from an iPhone to a Windows 10 desktop so you can pick up where you left off on mobile.

Regardless, the Your Phone app looks to be a significant step in helping bridge Windows 10 and the mobile ecosystem after the demise of Windows Phone. The news was announced at the company’s Surface hardware event in New York City this afternoon.

Image: Microsoft

We didn’t see an extensive demo onstage, but we did get a look at a user exchanging Snapchat messages with a friend on a Surface device using the app-mirroring feature. Microsoft says the feature will be available now with the new Windows 10 October update. It’s starting with the mirroring of the Android stock texting and photos apps and iPhone webpage transfer, with more fully featured Android app support coming at a later, unannounced date. It’s not clear right now whether iPhone users will get any additional features for the Your Phone app in the future.