Microsoft is bringing iMessage support to Windows
- Microsoft has announced that its Phone Link app for Windows 11 will soon support iPhone.
- This is the first time that iMessage will be available on Windows, though it is a workaround.
- There are limitations, such as no sending photos or participating in group chats via Phone Link.
With the latest update to its Phone Link app for Windows 11, Microsoft has announced it will bring support for the iPhone for the first time. This will include the ability to send and receive iMessages from Windows devices for the first time, with some limitations.
Microsoft’s Phone Link app for Windows acts as a mirror of your phone on your PC, showing notifications, phone calls, messages, and more. Previously, the app only supported Android devices, but that will change soon with the addition of iPhone support.
Phone Link’s new version will use Bluetooth to link users’ iPhones to their PCs. It will then pass “commands and messages” to the Messages app on the connected iPhone. This will allow users to send and receive SMS texts and iMessages through the Phone Link app on their PC. As Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s head of consumer marketing, told The Verge, “We send the messages back and forth via Bluetooth, Apple I think in turn sends those as iMessage once it gets onto their system.”
Image credit: 9to5mac
Though Apple doesn’t natively support iMessage on any non-Apple-made platforms, this is definitely a workaround, meaning there are some major limitations. For one, the full messages history cannot be viewed through the Phone Link app, only messages that “have been sent or received using Phone Link.” The app also cannot differentiate between green and blue bubbles so they will all appear the same on your PC. You will also not be able to participate in group chats or send photos through the Phone Link app.
The updated Phone Link app is available now for a “small percentage” of Windows Insiders who are enrolled in the Dev, Beta, or Release Preview channels. The update will roll out more widely “over time.”
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