Microsoft is killing its Phone Companion app for Windows 10

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
published

The app, which acts as a pretty basic guide to getting Microsoft's services on your phone, will be retired soon.

Microsoft is gearing up to retire its Phone Companion (opens in new tab) app for Windows 10. In an in-app message initially spotted by German blog Windows United, Microsoft says that the app will be retired soon and recommends that people use Windows 10's built-in phone connection setting going forward.

Though it's being retired soon, Phone Companion is unlikely to be missed. The app first launched in 2015 as a sort of guide to help you get your phone, whether it be Windows, Android, or iOS, set up with Microsoft apps and services. For Windows phones, Phone Companion includes written steps for taking advantage of services like Cortana and Photos. For Android and iOS, the app allows you to email yourself links to Microsoft's apps on Google Play and the App Store. Phone companion can also be used to sync media files to your PC.

Phone Companion Retirement

The in-app message reads (translated from German):

Microsoft companion for phone will be removed shortly. Enter the settings to connect your phone.

Phone Companion is pretty basic and Microsoft has since worked to more deeply integrate Windows 10 with your phone. Most recently, Microsoft has pushed out a "Continue on PC" feature to its Android Launcher and Microsoft Edge on Android and iOS, allowing you to pick up where you left off on your phone.

If you're curious about Phone Companion, it can still be downloaded from the Microsoft Store. For more on connecting your phone to Windows 10 and using Continue on PC, check out our handy guide.

See at Microsoft Store (opens in new tab)

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

30 Comments
  • I thought this was useful, it's weird that they kill it. How does the replacement work? I like about this one that gives more visibility to the new flexibility Windows 10 has in interacting with phones with any OS.
  • They're not killing it.
    They're just making it part of the OS instead of a standalone app.
  • Good, but I think it's important that it has good visibility. Windows 10 has a lot of features people don't know about and will never know.
  • @fdruid. Yup, most people are content with the basic stuff. Hence is why most people didn't shift from 10S. Which is what would have pushed further UWP development but... Microsoft being Microsoft they want to embark on a premise that cuts that off and penalises professional users by placing a paywall to turn off S Mode.
  • I don't know how to use the Windows 10 Phone Companion functionality built in. So, how to I get to that? Is it in Devices? In Windows 10's Windows Settings there's a Phone section, but all it says is Android and iPhone. I'm still using a Windows 10 Mobile device (will be until I can afford to get something different - which won't be soon). So, is this what I'm supposed to use?
  • It was never really any use anyway
  • I'm surprised that it wasn't already killed.
  • All this disappearing of the word "phone" from the Microsoft universe is a very good sign in anticipation of the rumored Surface "Phone".
    It should be imminent.
  • You mean Surface not-Phone, right? Windows need not pair with phones going forward, once we hit the post-smart phone era and the not-Phones arrive, so no need for this app anymore. I can't wait to dump my smart phone for good.
  • As long as Apps exist, smartphones will never die. They just get better and better...
  • If this was true, clearly it's not them who are going to make it happen. Their phones have been small iterations with minimal improvements for the last 5 years at least. And to be fair pretty much all major current smartphones have reached a ceiling in which the changes they introduce are superfluous and don't improve the user experience at all. So in this context, traditional smartphones are already a dying trend, and MS offering something new is not a crazy whim, it's another symptom, of which there will be more from the true leading tech companies. (Hint: Apple won't be one of them, they avoid any risk with hardware and and lack an OS with the versatility, they just have two separate OSs for two separate experiences).
  • “The perfect pair”.
  • It was, when W10M was actually a thing... And btw, it's still a pretty good fit 😁
  • What else does the app do except data transfer? which can be done only by a usb cable...
  • Microsoft nickname killing
  • Nadulla killing MS. 
  • The books say no. The bottom line has never looked better.  One who is invested could argue that he's saving MS.  After all, who does Nadella work for, the shareholders or the fanboys?
  • Messaging needs to go next, that has zero functionality too
  • Microsoft must suicide along with everything, that's what they are good at and what they will do too with their next dual mirrored toy.
  • I can completely understand this, there is no need for this specific program anymore, certainly in Windows 10
  • In the post-smart phone era, there is no need for smart phones or their integration with Windows at all. I can't wait until we can move on to not-Phones and dump these things.
  • What is this "post smart phone era" that you keep blathering on about?  Just because MS is out of the phone business, does not mean that phones are going away.  Do you think MS will abandon all of their apps and services on Android and Apple phones? No one is going to dump their Android/Apple phone for a Windows tablet.   Or for a Windows phone.   Or for a Windows anything.   What is much more likely is, "in the post Windows PC era, there is no need for PCs and their integration with phones at all".   
  • People are screaming this "post PC era" bullsh*t for years now... And the PC industry is growing again, thanks to Microsoft and its OEM partners 😁 Repeating the same thing over and over again won't make it true 😝
  • Just like the fanboys here crying and screaming about that post smartphone era that is "right around the corner".   That is NOT happening.  
  • Why won't it? The efforts to make it happen will only start with andromeda late this year, so wait out how it does, and what other OEMs do :D And yeah, smartphone tech is the most boring thing in the world :D
  • They may not dump their Droid or iDevice, but it will give those of us who refuse to buy into those ecosystems something to use.
  • They already made something for the people that wouldn't buy into those ecosystems. Then they got rid of it because nobody bought into it. You might not remember, but it was called Windows Phone. But I'm with you, I'm sure this new crazy Nintendo DS won't just sell a few hundred thousand units and then get killed off too.
  • "Windows... The perfect pair..." LMAO!
  • Glad someone laughed
  • The sad thing is the Zune client did heck of alot more than this flimsy-botched-together-lines-of-code-masquerading-as-an-app. This "app" is the clear definition of a 'thin paper umbrella' in a storm of hail stones - useless - absolutely useless.