Microsoft is improving the connection between your smartphone and PC with the Windows Connected Mobile app. Thus, a new control panel will be integrated into the Start menu and we will be able to extract text from images on the phone easily.
In the digital landscape, smartphones have become the most widely used devices, far ahead of laptops and desktop computers. Therefore, it is increasingly necessary to have a convenient way to communicate between your phone and your computer. Microsoft seems to have understood this well and has been paying increased attention for some time to the Connected Mobile app for Windows 10 and 11.
This program built by default into Windows allows you to link one or more mobile devices (Android or iOS) to a computer so you can use them directly on your computer screen. Once the connection is established, it is possible to read and send SMS messages, receive or make calls, or view and manage photos stored on your phone, all from your computer.
The application function uses the Wi-Fi connection and does not need to be connected to the smartphone or PC via a cable, which can be used to quickly classify the photos (and do so in three clips from the phone. for example). Good news, Microsoft continues to improve Connected Mobile, with the rollout of automatic text recognition in images to all users and the upcoming arrival of a new dedicated app tile in the Start menu.
Mobile connected to Windows 11: You can extract text from smartphone images
In testing for some time in the Windows Insider Programs, detecting and extracting text in images from a connected mobile phone is now available to all Windows 10 and 11 users. To take advantage of this new functionality, simply open the app and allow it to update. Now, when an image is displayed in Connected Mobile, press the button text Available in the top toolbar.
By clicking on the button textIt is then possible to select all or part of the text in the image that the application has detected, then copy and paste it elsewhere. According to our tests, it is clear that character recognition works very well on screenshots, but also on printed paper photographs, such as books or administrative documents, even when the photo is not captured perfectly from the front. In the image above for example, all the words near the fold of the book were detected correctly, with only one or two words in the bottom left presenting a problem.
Mobile phone connected to Windows 11: Control panel in the Start menu
In order to further simplify the use of your smartphone on PC and improve the integration of Connected Mobile into Windows, Microsoft is working on Add a custom application panel to the Start menu. This new feature has been in preview since June 21, 2024, and is currently only accessible to members of the Windows Insiders Program, on Windows Build 22635.3790 and Connected Mobile Build 1.24052.124.0 or higher.
The connected mobile phone panel can be activated from Settings > Personalization > Get started It will display various information, such as the phone's battery level and notifications, directly in the Start menu, in addition to providing quick access to messages, calls or photos. If a specific release date for this feature is not mentioned at the moment, we can hope that it will arrive at the latest in the fall of 2024, on the occasion of the publication of the big 24H2 update for Windows 11.
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