Windows 11’s Phone Link is no longer exclusive to Samsung phones, but the overall integration is still the best with a Galaxy phone. Samsung and Microsoft work closely to improve the integration between the two platforms, and One UI 6.1.1 takes another step forward in this direction. It makes screen mirroring with Windows 11 a lot easier.
After updating my Galaxy S23 to One UI 6.1.1, I noticed that the screen sharing or mirroring to Windows 11 is less annoying. When I clicked on the “Open Phone screen” button in the Phone Link app, my Galaxy S23 surprisingly didn’t ask for my permission to mirror the screen.
The Galaxy S23 screen was immediately mirrored on my desktop. I could control the screen, navigate between apps and do other things. While the screen mirroring feature isn’t new and has been around for more than a year, the integration has gotten a lot better.
Your Samsung phone will no longer nag you to grant permission to the Phone Link app every time you use it. Previously, Android 14 asked you to give permission to mirror the screen every time you used the Phone Link feature.
This is no longer the case with One UI 6.1.1, which is now rolling out to more phones, such as the Galaxy S23.
Copilot, Samsung and Windows 11 Phone Link integration
Speaking of Samsung and Windows 11 integration, Microsoft recently started integrating Copilot into Phone Link’s messages section. This will allow you to craft text messages using Copilot. Or you’ll be able to use Copilot to summarize your previous text messages, all without needing to pick up your phone.
Copilot and Phone Link app feature is being tested with some users in the Windows Insider Program, but there’s another Windows 11-Android feature that you might want to try.
Microsoft recently rolled out full-fledged “Phone Link” support in Copilot for everyone.
As shown in the above screenshot, you can open copilot.microsoft.com in Microsoft Edge, and then head to the plugins section. You’ll find a new “Phone Link” plugin that allows you to manage SMS on your Samsung and Android phones using Copilot.
If you have a Samsung phone and access to Copilot’s Phone Link plugin, you can summarize existing text messages and write and send new text messages.
In the below example, Copilot was able to search for a specific SMS I asked for and translate it into my preferred language.
Copilot with Phone Link integration can also display contact numbers.
On Galaxy phones with One UI 6.1, you can even set an alarm using Copilot for Windows.
The integration is really smooth and works without fail in our tests. However, Windows Latest observed that using Copilot to manage your alarms is exclusive to Galaxy phones, at least for now.
In addition to all these useful upgrades, Microsoft has turned on Android phone integration in File Explorer, allowing you to view your phone’s storage without a USB cable.
How often do you use Phone Link with your Android phone? Let us know in the comments below.