Windows 11 still loses your Android phone after sleep, but Microsoft now wants you to shut down your PC from it
Windows 11’s Phone Link (Link to Windows) is one of the best features Microsoft has made in recent years, but it’s only good when it works. If you’re unlucky, you might wake your PC from sleep and find that your Android phone has disconnected, leaving you staring at a “Connecting” alert when you try to browse photos or view recent notifications and messages.
Microsoft wants to make the connection more reliable. In a post on X on October 24, spotted by Windows Latest today, Windows boss Pavan Davuluri confirmed that the company is aware of the feedback and is working on improvements, including when a PC wakes up and reconnects to a phone.
“Reliability is a top priority for us,” Pavan wrote. “We continue to invest in improving connectivity reliability and speed, including when your PC wakes up and reconnects to your phone. I’ll make sure the team sees this as well.”
I’ve personally run into unreliable connections as well, and I use Phone Link with my Galaxy S23, which is supposedly one of the most compatible devices for the feature. Some of these problems happen when Windows is put to sleep or Android’s battery saver puts the Link to Windows background service to sleep to save battery.
Phone Link users are tired of unreliable connections
A Feedback Hub post titled “Your Phone app connectivity issues,” which was posted over a year ago, has more than 3,660 upvotes and 159 comments. One user noted:
“Phone link used to work fine for simple things, but now it’s always losing phone connection. Even when I get one app to link, features like photos are now failing halfway through something.”
“It’s got worse recently. It’s now regularly complaining that my phone is offline (with the new indicator) but it isn’t. It wasn’t a couple of hours ago when it picked up a notification, but just now it’s missed one, and nothing’s changed in the meantime. So unreliable.”
A Microsoft official, Aaron K, has already responded to the feedback, noting that the “team is hard at work to bring you a better experience with Your Phone.” But most users aren’t convinced, even though they realize Phone Link can’t always be reliable because it’s also dependent on Android, which can affect connections through its often aggressive security and battery-saving features.
“This is not an Issue for millions of Windows users to work around with the above workarounds. It is for Microsoft to make the app work before releasing it,” one user wrote.
Microsoft is testing remote control for Link to Windows on Android
Microsoft is also working on new ways to control your Windows 11 PC from your Android phone. Alongside the existing option to lock your PC, you could eventually be able to restart it, shut it down, or install updates without being in front of it.
Link to Windows app installed in an Android phone. Credit: Windows LatestI found references to the feature, internally called RemoteControlManager, in the Link to Windows app for Android. It contains the following strings for restarting or shutting down your PC:
- pc_controls_restart_label
- pc_controls_shutdown_label
There are two even more interesting strings, pc_controls_update_and_restart_label and pc_controls_update_and_shutdown_label. As the names make obvious, these will allow you to install Windows updates and restart or shut down the PC.
Link to Windows Android APK String showing new Remote PC Controls. Credit: Windows Latest
Strings in Link to Windows app showing ability to shut down and restart PC. Credit: Windows LatestAnd if you put the PC to sleep, you’ll be warned that Link to Windows could disconnect, with the message noting, “After it’s asleep, it will be disconnected from this device. You need to go to your PC to wake it up.”
Likewise, there’s also a string that says, “A restart is needed to finish an update on your PC. Any unsaved work in open apps from your PC will be lost. Since you’re away, you won’t be able to save it from here. Do you want to restart anyway?”
With that said, it’s quite interesting how Microsoft is trying to bridge the gap between Android and PC, and with reliability fixes on the way, these features will make even more sense. It clearly shows Microsoft is paying attention to your feedback.