Microsoft Garage has ultimately released the anticipated Photos Companion app for iOS and Android devices. The new app, which has been in testing for some months, is aimed to make it easy for Windows 10 users to transfer their photos and videos from mobile devices to the Microsoft Photos app available on their Windows 10 desktop, notebooks, and tablets. It essentially works as a bridge between a Windows 10 PC and mobile devices. You can download the Photos Companion app on your iOS device by visiting the App Store, or on your Android device by going to Google Play.
Why Required this APP?
Microsoft’s “Photos Companion” was developed after the company witnessed students capturing images and videos in a classroom setting during the Windows 10 re-design. The company saw difficulty in getting the content that students had captured with personal iPhones and Android devices to a central project PC.
How to set it up?
The new app supports direct wireless transfer between any mobile device and the Photos app on a Windows 10 PC. It does not isolate one user’s photos from another, so there may be privacy concerns, but the app isn’t intended to sweep a device clean, with the transfer of select photos initiated from the mobile device, and not the computer.
To transfer, users scan the QR code that the computer’s Photos app presents. Photos for transfer are then selected on the device, and the photos and videos are then sent to the PC over wi-fi. Follow the below steps –
- Connect your phone and PC to the same Wi-Fi network.
- On your PC, open the Photos app.
- Select Import > From mobile over Wi-Fi.
- Point the scanner on the Photos Companion app at the QR code to begin the transfer.
If the “Import from mobile over Wi-Fi” option is not visible in the photos app on your PC, you must enable the “Show additional preview features” option from the Settings section of the Photos app.
What is The Microsoft Garage?
As part of a competitive and fast-paced industry, Microsoft continually evolve the way we work. The Garage is a resource to Microsoft employees that supports and encourages problem solving in new and innovative ways, ultimately empowering people to achieve more. The Garage is a worldwide community of thousands of passionate employees who challenge convention, explore new technologies, and move their ideas forward. The Garage attracts people who are passionate about making a difference in the world.
New Garage facilities with expanded capabilities and equipment are now open at the Microsoft Global Development Centers in Vancouver, B.C., Silicon Valley, and Herzelia, Israel. Three more Garage spaces are under construction in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Hyderabad, India, and Beijing, China. The Garage team develops programming at each location tuned to the needs of the local community. Talks and workshops help hackers explore and cross-pollinate technology. These events cover new development platforms such as Xamarin, Microsoft Cognitive Services, and Microsoft Bot Framework. New technical communities have formed around wearables, drones, and Future Reality.
