Your Phone app can now sync over mobile data

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
published

No Wi-Fi needed.

Your Phone SMS syncing
Your Phone SMS syncing (Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • The Your Phone app for Windows 10 can now sync texts, photos, and notifications over mobile data.
  • It's no longer necessary to connect to Wi-Fi to sync the Your Phone Companion app with your PC.
  • Your Phone Companion also has a new icon, taking design cues from Microsoft's new Office icons.

Microsoft this week pushed out a major update to the Your Phone Companion app for Android, adding the ability to sync over mobile data. Now, you'll no longer have to be connected to Wi-Fi to sync your photos, messages, and notifications with the Your Phone Windows 10 app.

The feature is now live with version 3.8.4 of the Your Phone Companion app. To get started, you'll have to head to the "Sync over mobile data" portion of the app's settings. Toggle the feature on, and your phone will then sync iwth Your Phone on PC without being connected to Wi-Fi.

This update also brings a new icon. Like several of Microsoft's other recent icon updates, the Your Phone Companion app takes its design cues from the aesthetic Microsoft established for its Office apps last year.

See more

If you want to check out mobile data sync, you can grab the latest version of Your Phone Companion from Google Play now.

See at Google Play (opens in new tab)

Cheap PC accessories we love

Take a gander at these awesome PC accessories, all of which will enhance your Windows experience.

Anker 4 port USB 3.0 hub (opens in new tab) ($10 at Amazon)

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Ikea Fixa Cable Management System (opens in new tab) ($11 at Amazon)

This IKEA cable management kit is your ticket to a clean setup. It's simple and functional.

NZXT Puck (opens in new tab) ($20 at Amazon)

This clever little accessory has powerful magnets on the rear to make it stick to any of the metal panels on your PC case or anything else. It's great for hanging accessories like headsets.

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. 

20 Comments
  • Good thing about the new icon, the old one was horrible. Looking forward to more icons getting the new treatment.
  • Does it still require the never version of Bluetooth, because it won't fully work with my Surface Pro 3?
  • I didn't know this even used Bluetooth. I thought it was WiFi.
  • It required Bluetooth for screen mirroring.
  • Ah, thanks. I haven't tried this feature yet.
  • Thanks. I forgot exactly which features didn't work, because I haven't been using it since I found out it had limitations.
  • This is a great step that sounds like it will bring it closer to the old WP. This is how it should be, so long as I have my account on both devices, it should work, no same network medium required.
  • As far as I know, I never required devices to be on the same network. It connected over Bluetooth. My phone always connected to my Surface, whether or not I was on a network.
  • Thats essentially the same thing though if you think about it. It's just direct pairing. This should be a bit better, allowing you access to PCs without BT or on closed networks with only internet access.
  • I don't think internet only connection is the way to go. What if your PC isn't connected to the internet? In a real world situation, what reason would you want this to be internet only connected? I don't see the benefit to that. Every phone created now days has Bluetooth and pretty much every computer, too. There would never be a reason I would choose internet only connection over Bluetooth, because of the purpose of the app. Having the option to choose how you connect is a great idea. But, not necessarily one over the other.
  • Well, I tether my phone to my laptop, and with the new change My Phone now works with that setup. So that's one example.
  • I'm not saying to eliminate BT entirely, I think the more options the better. Also, my specific example was if you had internet and NOT BT compatiblity. I know this isn't a problem with modern machines, but remember some people are running machines out there without native wifi in them, much less BT. To me this is so much better as it is like the old days where your phone didn't even have to be in the same zip code to receive messages to the PC, much less the same network.
  • Ahhh yes. I actually had not considered older machines. I forget that not everyone upgrades their devices every few years.
  • So I tried this and it works. The worry is that it'll really drain the battery, but so far so good. Good job, MS.
  • Yet another blue icon...
  • The article says version 3.8.4 but I think that that should be version 3.4.8.
  • That's great news. I tether my Surface to my phone while commuting so being connected to the same WiFi network is impossible, so this will alleviate that issue. It also means that my phone will sync with my work machine when I'm connected via RDP and thus not on the same WiFi network. I can now ditch Dell Mobile Connect and stick just to Your Phone.
  • That's my setup, sans RDP. I didn't even think of remote desktops and virtual machines and the like - this opens a lot of doors. Or rather, the previous policy of disallowing Your Phone operations when the phone is on the cellular network were incredibly restrictive.
  • Yes I think they have the wrong version number in the article also. Latest says 3.4.8 which was 17th May.
    My icon hasn't updated however.
    I see see the new icon in the Store, my app itself is on the new version but the icon is the old black one still.
  • Microsoft NEEDS to address the Bluetooth Low Energy issue with all there own Surface line..I dont understand why they would design something(screen Mirroring) that can't work with their systems!! Losing Faith.......