Microsoft Presents IMessage Access On Windows Via Phone Link App

JAKARTA - Microsoft will bring iMessage access to Windows via the Phone Link app. A preview of the updated app will be available for Windows Insiders on March 1. The Phone Link app allows iPhone users to connect their devices to a Windows laptop or PC and, with this update, will allow iPhone users to send and receive messages via iMessage, make and receive calls, and see their phone notifications in Windows 11.

Microsoft uses Bluetooth to connect Windows devices to iPhone, send commands and messages to the user's Messages (iMessage) app. That is, you will be able to send a direct message from PC to contacts that also use the iPhone, but there are some restrictions.

You will not be able to send images in messages or participate in group chats. As seen in the screenshot of the Phone Link app, PC users will see their iMessage conversations in simplified form.

"We sent messages back and forth via Bluetooth, Apple in turn sent the message as iMessage once it reached their system," said Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's chief consumer marketing chief, in an interview with The Verge.

You also won't see a complete message history in the conversation, as only messages that have been sent or received using Phone Link will be displayed. Microsoft also doesn't use blue or green bubbles in Phone Link, as the company can't distinguish between standard text messages and those sent via iMessage.

Phone Link integration for iOS is simple compared to what's available for Android, but Microsoft hasn't supported messages or calls for iPhone users before, so it's the right move. Because Phone Link is bundled with Windows 11, it's also native compared to alternative PC linking apps we've seen from Intel, Dell, and others.

"This is something we've wanted to do all this time," Mehdi said. "The experience with Android is very good, and we feel the need to take out something [for the iPhone]."

While there will be no photo integration in Phone Link, Microsoft already offers integration of iCloud Photos within the Windows 11 Photo app. Easy to imagine that this might appear on Phone Link someday in the future.

This new Phone Link support arrives at the same time as a large Windows 11 update that includes AI-backed Bing on the taskbar, screen recording features, better touch optimization, and more.

If you are interested in testing new Phone Link support for iOS, it will be available to Windows Insiders on the Dev, Beta, and Release Preview channels, but Microsoft started testing with a "small part" tester this week.

"We will increase the availability of previews for more Insiders over time and based on the feedback we received with this first set of Insiders," the Microsoft Windows team said in a blog post.