Windows 11 could put your iPhone or Android device right at the heart of the Start menu, so to speak, or at least the Phone Link app is apparently headed in this direction.
This is according to clues discovered by MS Power User, which reported on rumors from Windows 11 testers that Phone Link is set to become a Start Menu 'Companion'.
If you missed the add-on panel that appeared in Windows previews last month, it's a floating panel that can be docked to the left or right of the Start menu. The Companions it hosts are a bit like old widget-style Live Tiles that show real-time information being streamed.
In theory, Phone Link will be one of the apps that appears in the Companion panel, as MS Power User dug into the Phone Link files and found a number of code strings related to the 'StartMenuCompanion' configuration.
Analysis: intensify work on telephone integration
This appears to be the basis for Phone Link becoming a Start menu add-on, but of course this is just hidden work in testing at the moment, and we can't assume this will happen. In fact, the Companion panel could still be abandoned if Microsoft has second thoughts; Only time will tell.
Given the rumors, and at least some concrete evidence that Phone Link will get this treatment, it seems more likely to happen, overall. Phone Link would also be a logical and useful app to have in the companion panel, in order to channel notifications from your smartphone and alert you when you are in the Home menu.
Phone Link has been a key part of Windows for some time now, and it's no surprise that Microsoft is moving forward with potential features like this, and working on Cross-Device Experience Host (although it has stumbled lately) and other phone-related features. capabilities additionally, given that Apple now has iPhone Mirroring incoming with macOS Sequoia.
Whichever way you look at it, smartphones are becoming more and more deeply integrated into desktop operating systems these days.
