Windows 11 could soon get a cool feature to seamlessly link your Android phone to the Start menu - and a nifty gamepad perk, too

A new preview for Windows 11 version 23H2 has been released with some nifty additions in terms of new features, including one that Phone Link fans will definitely enjoy.

This is preview build 22631 (also known as KB5044380 in Microsoft’s documentation) and it has arrived in the Release Preview channel of the Windows Insider Program. In other words, this is the final testing channel before release, meaning that in theory, the features therein should arrive as part of November’s cumulative update for 23H2.

One of the most interesting moves is on the phone front, and it means that if you have an Android device hooked up to your PC courtesy of the Phone Link app, you’ll soon be able to access content on your mobile right from Windows 11’s Start menu. You’ll be able to check the status of your phone’s battery, listen to voice messages and look at photos, and continue recent activities that you were in the midst of on your handset – all right from the Start menu.

To benefit, as mentioned you’ll need to have Phone Link set up with your Android phone, and for the moment, it’s an Android-only affair (Microsoft says that iOS support is coming soon, though). This feature will be managed in the Settings app, and you’ll need to head to Settings > Personalization > Start.

More features and fixes coming to Windows 11

If you use an Xbox controller with your PC, build 22631 provides a new on-screen keyboard to allow typing using the controller, and also shortcuts that leverage the gamepad’s buttons (the ‘X’ button is backspace, for example).

With the broader Windows 11 interface, this preview also allows you to prevent apps from displaying suggestions to turn off notifications.

Furthermore, newer PCs with a ‘Copilot’ key can now customize this key to do something other than fire up the AI assistant, so it can be programmed to open a specific app. (With some limitations, mind you - this only works with signed MSIX apps, as we discussed when this feature was spotted in an earlier testing channel).

Build 22631 also delivers fixes for various bugs in Windows 11 and Microsoft apps, including a Microsoft Teams issue, a battery power drain glitch for some devices while in standby mode, and a fix for multi-function printer problems.

This is a very solid and thankfully uncontroversial update that brings nifty new ways to link your phone and Windows 11 PC, as well as addresses various bugs and performance issues. This is the kind of Windows 11 update I can get behind and as mentioned, hopefully, these features will be arriving in the November update for 23H2.

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