What you need to know
- On the Samsung DeX landing page, the company revealed that One UI 7 will not support the Samsung DeX app on Windows.
- This app made it possible to seamlessly transfer files and more between devices.
- However, there was a ton of feature overlap between DeX and Microsoft Phone Link, and Samsung now wants you to move to the latter.
Samsung DeX is going away with One UI 7, but probably not the one you're thinking of. In the footnotes of the landing page for DeX on Samsung's UK website, the company shares that the next version of its mobile operating system will not support the DeX app on Windows. Instead, it's pushing users to Microsoft Phone Link and the Link to Windows app.
For those unfamiliar, the DeX app for Windows made it possible to mirror your Android phone's screen and drag-and-drop files between platforms. It was a quick-and-easy way to integrate your Galaxy phone with your Windows PC, and was especially preferred by Samsung Galaxy users. The problem is that Microsoft has been developing similar services for years, and its offerings support a wider variety of Android phones. That's why, as Android Authority spots, the DeX for Windows app is set to be discontinued.
"The DeX for PC on Windows OS will end support from One UI 7 version," a note from Samsung explains on the UK landing page for DeX. "We encourage customers to connect mobile phone and PC through the Link to Windows feature. To use the 'Link to Windows' feature, refer to the following website."
The footnote also includes a link to Samsung's Connected Experience page, where the company shows off a variety of services that help integrate Galaxy devices, with Phone Link front-and-center.
For Samsung Galaxy users, the good news is that Microsoft Phone Link covers all the existing functionality of the Samsung DeX app on Windows, and then some. To make the switch, users will simply need to download the Link to Windows app on their Android phone and set it up using the Phone Link app on their Windows 11 PC. We have a complete guide to using Phone Link here.
It makes sense for Samsung to drop support for the Samsung DeX app with One UI 7, as the update is reportedly a big one. So big, in fact, that it's faced numerous delays. This will be a shift for Samsung's operating systems, and it looks like DeX for Windows isn't a part of that future.
