Windows 10 can run multiple Android apps via Your Phone – but this feature will remain Samsung-only

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Windows 10 testers who have adopted the Your Phone app are now getting the ability to run multiple Android apps on their desktop, but this feature will only be available for Samsung smartphones in the foreseeable future.

Microsoft brought support for running Android apps to Your Phone back in September, and promised that the ability to run multiple mobile apps on the Windows 10 desktop would arrive before the end of 2020.

And indeed that ability is now here, or at least support for Windows Insiders (testers) is now rolling out, with general availability for everyone hopefully not too far away.

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Testers must be running one of certain Samsung smartphones, though, and it doesn’t look like other handsets will be able to benefit from these nifty features any time soon.

Deeper level

When asked about support for other devices, Vishnu Nath, Partner Director of Program Management, Mobile and X-Device, at Microsoft, clarified that the Android app hook-up required a deeper level of hardware and software integration than other features in Your Phone.

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So while this doesn’t rule out Microsoft eventually working with other phone manufacturers to give their handset owners these advantages, it’s obviously not a trivial thing to do this, and so therefore not likely to be happening any time soon.

A couple of months back, Microsoft said it was “exploring new ideas and ways to help our customers” in terms of bringing these features to phones other than Samsung models, so we can perhaps remain hopeful that this is something that will eventually be in the pipeline.

Via Windows Latest

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).