Microsoft is introducing a Windows 10 feature that will allow some users to switch between their smartphones and their PCs when they copy and paste.
The latest feature to join the Windows 10 app Your Phone will let users copy and paste between devices, says Microsoft.
The company shared a sneak peak of might be in store with the next Windows 10 update in a blog post on Thursday:
“Continuing our strong partnership with Samsung from last August, we’re excited to introduce exciting new features, which are now available on the latest Samsung Galaxy S20/S20+/S20 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip devices in select markets. You can enjoy copying and pasting text and images between your devices, black screen while in phone screen, Rich Communication Service messaging, and more!”
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To access this new features, users just need to open the settings in the Your Phone app and toggle the ‘Cross-device copy and paste’ option to ‘On’
How you copy and paste remains the same – with ctrl + C and ctrl + V copying and pasting on PC and tapping and holding doing the job on Android – but now users can toggle these functions between devices.
Image: Microsoft
The new feature won’t work on every Android, though. Only Samsung Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20 Plus, Galaxy S20 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip users will be able to access the new feature, so, if you’re using a device released before 2020, you may be out of luck. Cross-device copy and paste also requires a PC running Windows 10 April 2018 or later.
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Other updates include a feature that automatically turns the user’s phone screen black to protect privacy when using the phone screen feature on their laptop and Rich Communication Service (RCS) to notify users when their messages have been marked as read on the Samsung Galaxy S20.
Right now, the new features are only available for Windows Insider Preview users in the Fast ring, but we expect the features to arrive for more users later on.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
