Phone Link goes near full‑screen
PowerToys’ recent update added Phone Link support for near full‑screen Android apps on PC — meaning many Android apps can now run almost full‑screen inside Windows via Phone Link (x.com) (x.com). That’s a notable step for people who rely on Android apps on desktop workflows or want tighter mobile‑to‑PC continuity (x.com).
Microsoft started publicly rolling out an “Expanded screen” mode for Phone Link on January 7, 2026 that lets streamed Android apps occupy roughly 90% of a Windows desktop instead of the narrow phone‑sized window. (windowslatest.com) The feature is delivered through Phone Link updates in the Microsoft Store and requires a compatible phone with Link to Windows preinstalled and the Phone Link app on the PC updated to the new version. (yugatech.com) Phone Link builds tied to the rollout include versions cited in early reports—examples named in coverage include 1.25091.39.0 and 1.25112.36.0 as the packages that introduced the expanded/expanded‑screen options. (elevenforum.com) Microsoft’s support docs and testers note visual tradeoffs: many apps show letterboxing or black bars when stretched, some games and apps don’t accept mouse/keyboard input, and the stream isn’t native Android‑on‑x86 so behavior varies by app. (support.microsoft.com) PowerToys itself has been shipping frequent releases this year (v0.97/v0.98 series) and the project’s GitHub contains open issues where users report FancyZones/window‑management conflicts and request better capture or handling for Phone Link windows. (devblogs.microsoft.com) Public tutorials and community threads show the new Expanded layout is behind an on/off control and that users may need to update both Phone Link and device firmware, then opt into an “expanded” or “optimize app window sizing” setting to get larger app windows. (elevenforum.com)
