A new iOS app from Microsoft has only one goal: to send photos from your iPhone to a PC as quickly and easily as possible. Ideal for students who have to do with a school computer.
Microsoft Photos Companion now available
Microsoft’s new Photos Companion app does exactly what its name implies: it is a handy tool for sharing your photos with a Windows PC. The app links your iPhone directly to Windows 10’s default Photos app.
This app is therefore mainly intended for iPhone owners who occasionally use a Windows PC or laptop. Rather than setting up OneDrive and uploading all your files to it, Photos Companion should provide a faster alternative.
The app works as follows: by scanning a qr code, you temporarily link your iPhone to the Windows 10 Photos app. send from your iPhone. To use the app, you must first set up the Windows app properly. You do this as follows.
Set up Photos Companion on a Windows PC
- Open the Windows Photos app on your PC or laptop;
- Open the Photos app on the computer and tap the three dots;
- In the settings screen, scroll to ‘Extras’;
- Turn on the switch under ‘Show additional preview functions’;
- Restart the Photos app.
This is how you use Microsoft Photos Companion
Now that the Photos app is ready, you can send photos from your iPhone to a Windows computer with the following simple steps.
- Open the Photos Companion app on your iPhone;
- Start the Windows Photos app;
- Click on ‘Import’ and choose ‘From mobile via Wi-Fi’;
- Scan the qr code with your iPhone;
- Choose the photos you want to send.
Since the app does not make a permanent connection between iOS and Windows, the app is especially useful for students. After all, they often sit behind a Windows PC in a media library, where they can quickly share photos with this app without logging into private accounts.
Is the app not working as it should? Then it’s time to dive into the settings of the Windows 10 Photos app. If you activate the option ‘Show additional preview features’ there, the app should do better again.
Photos Companion is part of Microsoft’s Garage project. This challenges employees to come up with new apps, which – if they are good enough – will be released. The app is completely free to download and use for both iOS and Android.