Windows is now an app for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and PCs

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The new Windows App. | Image: Microsoft

Microsoft has created a Windows App for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, Windows, and web browsers. The app essentially takes the previous Windows 365 app and turns it into a central hub for streaming a copy of Windows from a remote PC, Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, Microsoft Dev Box, and Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services.

Microsoft supports multiple monitors through its Windows App, custom display resolutions and scaling, and device redirection for peripherals like webcams, storage devices, and printers. The preview version of the Windows App isn’t currently available for Android, though.

Image: Microsoft

The Windows App acts as a hub to connect to remote and cloud PCs.

The Windows App is also limited to Microsoft’s range of business accounts, but there are signs it will be available to consumers, too. The sign-in prompt on the Windows App on Windows (yes that’s a mouthful) suggests you can access the app using a personal Microsoft Account, but this functionality doesn’t work right now.

Microsoft has had similar apps for connecting to PCs remotely for decades, most notably with its Remote Desktop Connection app that ships in Windows. A dedicated “Windows App” is unusual branding though, and could signal Microsoft’s broader ambitions to move Windows fully to the cloud are underway.

what’s the future of Windows? Well, Microsoft has released a Windows App that lets you stream Windows 365 to an iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC, or browser. It doesn’t support consumer accounts yet, but that feels inevitable at this point https://t.co/KeUN1JYn08 pic.twitter.com/wdfW3bTbWM

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) November 15, 2023

Microsoft created a new web-focused Windows team after former Surface and Windows chief Panos Panay left the company for Amazon in September. The new “Windows and Web Experiences” team appears to be largely focused on building AI-powered web services for Windows. We’ve already seen a number of web-powered features appear in Windows 11, with the main search interface dynamically updating from the web, a widgets system, and even Copilot integration.

During the FTC v. Microsoft hearing, we learned that Microsoft wants to move Windows fully to the cloud on the consumer side, something it has already been offering to businesses with Windows 365. The Windows App might just set the stage for consumers to access cloud PCs and Windows apps on devices that don’t run Microsoft’s operating system.