Microsoft warns that Android 15 will make Windows Phone Link worse

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Certain sensitive notifications will no longer appear in Windows Phone Link when connected to certain phones.

Phone Link Pc Hero
Phone Link is a great Windows app. (Image credit: Future)

Windows Phone Link is one of Windows 11's best features, but with the latest Android 15 update, it's about to get a little less useful. With Android 15, Google has implemented a new behavior that automatically redacts sensitive notifications from being sent to "untrusted" notification listeners, and this will affect Phone Link on certain devices.

Microsoft has started warning users who are affected that as of the latest Android OS update, some notifications will no longer appear in Phone Link. This includes 2FA codes and other sensitive information. Here's what the warning says, displayed within the Phone Link app:

"With the latest Android updates, Phone Link no longer shows notifications that contain sensitive information for your protection."

This change will only affect users who have downloaded the Link To Windows app from the Google Play Store. According to Android expert Mishaal Rahman, phones that come with Link To Windows pre-installed should be able to continue syncing sensitive notifications if correctly configured to do so by Microsoft and the phone maker. Samsung Galaxy AI devices are still able to continue syncing these sensitive notifications, for example.

But if you use a phone that doesn't come with Phone Link, it appears you are out of luck. That means if you use a device like the Google Pixel, Sony Xperia, or Nothing Phone, you will no longer be able to see 2FA codes and other sensitive notifications when connected to Windows Phone Link, once you update to Android 15.

Phone Link has been shipping as part of Windows since Windows 10, when it debuted as Your Phone. It's a feature that lets you see your phone's notifications, apps, messages, and phone calls directly from your computer, reducing the need to take your phone out of your pocket when working on Windows.

Most recently, it lets you use your phone's camera as a webcam for your PC, and now even lets you sync files between your PC and phone within the File Explorer. It's a very powerful tool, but the recent Android 15 changes will mean it's about to become a bit less useful for a lot of people.

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Zac Bowden
Zac Bowden
Senior Editor

Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter and Threads

8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Dave47
    Actually Phone Link has not been working well for awhile now. Constant off-line / connect problems on both Windows 10 and 11. Used to be more reliable. Check feedback and MS Community for the long list of problems.
    Reply
  • John McIlhinney
    Dave47 said:
    Actually Phone Link has not been working well for awhile now. Constant off-line / connect problems on both Windows 10 and 11. Used to be more reliable. Check feedback and MS Community for the long list of problems.
    I have two machines - a Surface Pro 7 for work and a custom desktop for home - and Phone Link stopped working on both a while back. The issue seems to have righted itself on the desktop but it's still not working on the Surface. Both machines are running what I assume is the latest version. I'm about to upgrade the Surface so I haven't bothered reporting the issue to Microsoft, but I will if it doesn't work on the new machine too.
    Reply
  • smartin559
    So basically MS saying their buggy software is buggy, and they don't want to fix it. Got it.
    Reply
  • naddy69
    Trying to cobble together a solution from different companies with vastly different priorities is a waste of time. If only there was a single company that sold PCs, phones, tablets and watches. That all worked together seamlessly. That all use the same OS and apps.

    Hmmm.
    Reply
  • jamDigger
    naddy69 said:
    Trying to cobble together a solution from different companies with vastly different priorities is a waste of time. If only there was a single company that sold PCs, phones, tablets and watches. That all worked together seamlessly. That all use the same OS and apps.

    Hmmm.
    The last half of your comment would be so nice if the first part of your comment weren't patently false.
    Reply
  • GraniteStateColin
    Seems like a good reason to stick with Samsung phones for that tight level of integration with Windows. I LOVE Phone Link. Works fantastic for me with my Samsung phone (was good with Duo and Duo 2 also, but even better with Samsung phone).

    The latest update means that I can even access the whole file system on the phone from Windows without plugging it in. It can be in my pocket or setting on the wireless Qi charger on my desk. What's amazing about this is that this integration happens deep within the Windows file system, so whether it's connected via USB cable or wirelessly via Phone Link, even old third-party apps that don't support the modern file UI can read and write directly to the Android device like it's a flash drive. This means apps to edit documents and programs that copy files (needed for syncing music since MS abandoned OneDrive and Zune/Groove music support) work seamlessly over this. Obviously, it's faster for large transfers when connected via USB, but if not moving many GB of files, the convenience of not having to involve wires is a huge win. And the wireless connection performance is surprisingly good.

    Receiving and typing responses to text messages from Windows is also a vast improvement over doing that on the phone. However, the Android app experience is still a problem for me: I have a folding phone and it's necessary to unfold it and unlock the phone to run the app on Windows. If I'm going through all that, I might as well just run the app on the phone. I know this comes from security protections, but when at my private desk on my private PC on my private network, I wish there were a way to just let the apps run without having to interact with the phone at all. For me, that's the only negative with the current iteration of Phone Link on a Samsung device.
    Reply
  • GraniteStateColin
    naddy69 said:
    Trying to cobble together a solution from different companies with vastly different priorities is a waste of time. If only there was a single company that sold PCs, phones, tablets and watches. That all worked together seamlessly. That all use the same OS and apps.

    Hmmm.

    Presumably you're referring to the Apple ecosystem. I like Apple (started as a dedicated Apple user in the 1980's and praised the return of Steve Jobs with NeXT acquisition), think their animations and fluidity are beautiful, and agree with their cohesive approach in concept, but their execution falls so far from the mark, I strongly dislike using Apple products. Feel like I'm being punished whenever I have to use iOS or Mac OS (in both, there are things I like and admire, but the overall effect is like torture).

    In their quest for simplicity Apple makes everything take more steps than needed, where Windows (and, to a lesser extent, Android) allow doing the same things in 1 or a few steps (e.g., the way Mac OS supports basic accelerators like the right-click is a tedious mess, the lack of good gesture controls in iOS is another classic Apple failure). Similarly, Apple has retained the single menu bar at the top of the screen since the original Mac, which makes no sense in a world with giant monitors and multitaksing with many windows open.

    Now if MS keeps going in Apple's direction, like with the New Outlook, and iOS keeps getting better (like it finally added support for swipe to type, which is much faster than hitting individual letters), MS may lose its UX advantages, but so far, they're still far ahead.
    Reply
  • GraniteStateColin
    smartin559 said:
    So basically MS saying their buggy software is buggy, and they don't want to fix it. Got it.

    This is a Google change, hence it not affecting the phones that can bypass the change with the built-in version of Phone Link, like Samsung does.
    Reply