Windows 11 is getting the kind of Android integration Googlebooks were built for

Apple’s biggest ecosystem advantage has never been one killer device. It’s what happens when you put several of them on the same desk. While Google is looking to emulate similar cross-device conveniences through its new Googlebook platform, Microsoft has been chasing that same kind of continuity with Phone Link for years. Now, a new Windows 11 experiment is bringing some of those phone controls much closer to the surface.

Windows Latest has uncovered a new Mobile devices tile hidden in Windows 11’s experimental builds. It lives directly inside Quick Settings, the same Windows key + A panel where you already adjust volume, Wi-Fi, and Do Not Disturb. Once you link an Android phone, the tile changes to its device name and opens controls for Do Not Disturb, Volume, and Play sound without requiring you to launch Phone Link first.

That means you can silence your phone or make it ring without opening the Phone Link app. The latter sounds especially useful for those little everyday moments when your phone has disappeared under a cushion, inside a bag, or somewhere beneath the paperwork on your desk.

Microsoft isn’t inventing this idea from scratch. Apple offers features such as iPhone Mirroring and cross-device notifications, while Googlebook was built around that idea from day one. Android users can cast phone apps to the laptop, browse phone files, sync and reply to notifications, share a hotspot, and resume activities across devices. Microsoft’s approach here looks much narrower, though, but there’s something appealing about putting everyday phone controls directly inside Windows 11 Quick Settings.

There are still several caveats. Windows Latest manually enabled the feature in build Windows 11 26340.9596, and Microsoft hasn’t announced a public rollout. The “Add a device” screen also offers both Android and iPhone options, but the report only verified these new controls with Android, so it remains unclear whether iPhone users will get the same functionality.

For now, this is firmly experimental territory. But it’s another small step toward making Windows and your Android phone behave less like two neighboring islands and more like one workspace.