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Your Samsung Galaxy phone may soon unlock your Windows 10 PC
Many people own both a Samsung Galaxy phone and a Windows 10 desktop or notebook PC, especially for work. Now there’s word that an incoming update for the company’s Samsung Flow Android app will be able to remotely unlock any Windows 10 PC, which should be a big help for people concerned with security.
This feature will work if your Galaxy phone has a fingerprint reader like the Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, Note 5, Galaxy S6 and others. The Samsung Flow app, in theory, allows you to unlock a PC with just a tap of that fingerprint scanner. However, that function currently works on just one Windows 10 device, Samsung’s own Galaxy Tab Pro S tablet.
The good news? In a reply to a user question about the app on its Google Play Store listing, a Samsung customer service representative has confirmed that an upcoming update for Samsung Flow is in the works. It is supposed to add support to unlock all Windows 10 PCs. That update is scheduled to be released sometime in early April, according to that service rep. That’s also in line with when Microsoft is supposed to release the next major free update to Windows 10, also known as the Creators Update.
In addition to unlocking your PC with the app, Samsung Flow will also allow compatible Galaxy phones to enable its mobile hotspot so a Windows 10 PC can stay connected on the road via its Wi-Fi hardware. The app will also let PC owners check and reply to any of their phone’s notifications. Finally, the app should let Samsung Flow users transfer content and activity between the phone and PC, although it does add that function may not be supported for some apps.
Keep in mind that this new feature for Samsung Flow won’t work with the many older desktops and laptops with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 installed. However, this will certainly be a big plus for business and enterprise PC owners who want both a quick and safe way to unlock their Windows 10 PC, especially if their hardware does not support Microsoft’s own Windows Hello biometric security features.