The Android app version of Microsoft's Edge web browser has received an optional update with better Copilot support for images, among other new features.
Windows Copilot, which Microsoft markets as a revolutionary general-purpose digital assistant powered by artificial intelligence (AI), has been integrated into the Edge browser on both desktop computers and Android smartphones and tablets for some time now. Copilot and the Edge browser on Windows 11 recently got another image-related update and users can now take a screenshot of their screen and talk to Copilot or Edge about it.
The Edge app on Android now also has new optional Copilot capabilities: you can “Ask Copilot” about an image while using the browser and Copilot “Generate AI Images.” Microsoft has named this new feature “Mobile Copilot Chat with Pictures” for now.
Boosting the advantage
The availability of Copilot on the Edge browser is not limited to just Android devices, but is also available on iOS devices. However, on Android, Edge can summarize videos using quick mode and can summarize PDF files. It can also support chat plugins that can be used to create songs, as well as being able to perform most of the functions that the desktop version of Copilot can perform.
You can ask Copilot to summarize articles, stories, and generate unique images as it is equipped with OpenAI's DALL-E 3 imaging technology. You can talk and ask Copilot about an image by uploading an image but clicking the “Add an Image” button at the bottom of Copilot's right panel. You can also copy and paste an image or image link directly into Copilot in Edge on the desktop and discuss it with Copilot. We know that this level of versatility will also come to Android.
A word of caution, though: I couldn't get this feature to work on a newly downloaded version of Edge, but it may work for you. Additionally, this is an experimental feature that could lose your browsing data and compromise your security or privacy, and you will be warned about this when you access edge://flags.
If you have downloaded Edge for Android, you may be able to enable this feature by doing the following:
- Launch Edge for Android and make sure you have the latest version.
- Visit edge://flags (this is the directory page you want).
- Search or search for “Mobile Copilot” and enable the Mobile Copilot Chat with Images flag
- Restart the Edge app.
- Go to a web page that has an image, select and hold the image (“right-clicking” on Android devices) to bring up the actions context menu for the image.
- Select Ask the co-pilot either Generate AI images.
- This should display the image you selected in a Copilot chat window and you can then ask Copilot about the image or ask Copilot to generate its AI version of the image you have selected.
We may be about to see “Generate AI Images” as a separate, easier feature in the future (without having to ask or open Copilot separately), but that will have to come in an update to Edge for Android coming in a later date. .
It offers yet another way to take advantage of Copilot and GPT technology while using your Android device, helping Copilot slowly deliver on Microsoft's big promises. It makes Copilot more versatile, accessible, and convenient to use, and I could see myself using this in the future if it's included in an update to Edge for Android when it's hopefully a little less risky (at least for my tastes).
Microsoft is surely also hoping that these new Copilot features for the Edge mobile app will make more people switch from Google Chrome, which is the default web browser for Android devices.
Via MSPowerUser
