Windows 10: This Microsoft mobile app wirelessly transfers pics from Android, iOS

RV_ · February 17, 2018

OK I had Microsoft phones before and copying my photos and documents from my phone to my desktop and tablets was a breeze. In December of 2016 we gave up on Microsoft ever supporting phones again and did a deal to try two new iPhone 6 as we have never had an iOS phone. It took me five minutes of trying to get Apple Customer Support on the phone to tell me how to download my music to it without installing iTunes bloatware on my computer. When they said you have to have it that was the last straw and I returned the two phones that day, one unopened. So we got two free Motorola Z Play Android phones. Wow! Do we like them! I even have the Projector and JBL speaker that attach to them.

So today I finally read an article and found that Microsoft had written an App to transfer files from Android phones to my desktop.

1. Go to Play Store on phone and search for "Microsoft Photos Companion", install it.

2. Open Photos on your Windows 10 desktop. Click on the three dots at the top right and go to settings then scroll way down to the switch that says to allow So I went to the play store and followed the directions in this article.

3. Go to play store and install Lightning QR Reader.

Then start Windows Photos app that comes with Windows, click on import at the top right and then click on "from mobile over WiFi, and follow the directions

Excerpt:

Microsoft has released a new app for wirelessly transferring videos and photos from mobile devices to the Windows 10 Microsoft Photos app.

The photo-transfer app, dubbed Photos Companion, is purely for sending photos and videos from an Android or iOS device to Microsoft's built-in Photos app on Windows 10.

The transfer service is based around QR codes and Wi-Fi and works so long as the Windows 10 PC is on the same network as the Android or iOS device you want to move photos or videos from.

The QR code is used to connect the mobile app with the Photos app on Windows 10. Users select the photos they want to transfer from the companion app and then use settings in the Photos app to begin transferring them over Wi-Fi.

While anyone can download the Photo Companion app, developers at Microsoft Garage and Photos teams built the app with classrooms that rely on Windows 10 in mind.

Last year Microsoft staff visited classrooms in the US and Europe to ask teachers to try its Windows 10 Photos app.

Microsoft found that students were great at telling stories through video, but they had difficulties transferring content from multiple smartphones to a single PC where media projects are created.

"The biggest hurdle many classrooms faced was getting the content students had captured with their phones onto their project PCs," Microsoft explains. Using and finding cables meanwhile can be time-consuming.

And while a cloud file-sharing service could do the job, in a school scenario that option might be blocked due to network constraints whereas Wi-Fi access between devices was good. So the Garage and Photos team opted for a Wi-Fi based direct transfer system.

"Our solution was to build an app that would support direct wireless transfer between any phone or mobile device and the Photos app on any Windows 10 PC. This would enable students to transfer media to their own computers or to a shared, project PC without worrying about network speeds or mobile data charges," the Microsoft Garage team explains.

Of course, as the team notes, people outside school environments may also find the direct transfer system useful, so Microsoft released it for all.

Microsoft notes that the mobile transfer features are available in the Windows 10 Photos version 2018.18011.13110.0 or higher.

THat article with screen shots is here:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-this-microsoft-mobile-app-wirelessly-transfers-pics-from-android-ios/

docj · February 17, 2018

Cool concept but the wireless aspect wouldn't work with my Dell and my S7 (the wired connection works). According to what I read, this is a "beta" app so some glitches are to be expected,

acker1 · February 17, 2018

1 hour ago, RV_ said:

2. Open Photos on your Windows 10 desktop. Click on the three dots at the top right and go to settings then scroll way down to the switch that says to allow

I got this far!!!! Can't find the switch that says "allow". Now what?

Thanks

DICK

docj · February 17, 2018

4 minutes ago, acker1 said:

I got this far!!!! Can't find the switch that says "allow". Now what?

Mine didn't have the "switch" but the app on my phone said to go to "Import" on the laptop and would expect that the mobile device would be listed as one of the Import options. Which is exactly where mine attempt bogged down. I had my phone on the same wifi as the laptop but the phone never showed as a device to import from.

Chalkie · February 17, 2018

10 hours ago, docj said:

Cool concept but the wireless aspect wouldn't work with my Dell and my S7 (the wired connection works). According to what I read, this is a "beta" app so some glitches are to be expected,

It did say it was experimental. I have OneDrive so phone and PC pics are automatically uploaded there so they are in one easy to access location.

RV_ · February 17, 2018

OK guys do this. Check your version number.

To check the version open Photos then click the three dots in the upper right and click on settings and scroll all the way down and under "About this App" you will see this:

That number is your version number

Go to start/settings/apps and scroll down to "Photos" left click and then click on uninstall.

Then go to Microsoft store search for "Photos" not Microsoft photos just photos.

Install that version on your computer. Try the steps in the OP above again. Don't forget to close photos then reopen it after you flip the switch to allow it to come back with the Preview enabled.

Here is another article about it and sometimes reading another writer can make it clearer than me.

https://www.onmsft.com/news/microsoft-releases-photos-companion-app-for-android-and-ios-to-simplify-photo-transfer-to-a-windows-10-pc

Let me know how you guys like it after getting it all up to date.