Anyone who works on a PC all day knows how handy Phone Link is. But it wasn’t always this simple. Long before Phone Link became powerful and relevant, there were plenty of other Windows apps that offered similar features, like notification sync, screen mirroring, wireless file transfers, and the ability to use the phone as a webcam. These apps were genuinely good, and for a long time, the only options.
But that gap has since closed, and closed hard. Phone Link is free, native to Windows, and reliable enough that most people have zero reason to look elsewhere.
5 classic Windows apps I uninstalled after finding Windows has them built-in
These used to be essential, now they are just optional.
Pushbullet
The OG of cross-device sync
Before Phone Link was a thing, Pushbullet was the app to beat if you wanted your phone and PC to work together. It let you mirror notifications on your desktop, send and receive text messages, share links between devices, and even transfer files. For its time, it was genuinely impressive.
Phone Link, as you may already know, does all of it now. More importantly, it does it without asking you to pay a monthly fee. That’s another problem with Pushbullet. Its free tier is fairly limited, and the Pro plan is expensive at $39.99 a year. So even if you’ve used it for years, it’s hard to stay loyal when Phone Link does the same thing for free.
AirDroid
Not worth it for most people anymore
Anyone who’s been rocking an Android phone and a Windows PC for a few years likely knows AirDroid. It’s a popular tool that offers easy file transfers, notification sync, and the ability to make calls from your PC. It even offers screen mirroring and the option to manage files on your phone from a PC.
The only problem is, most of what made AirDroid special is now built into Phone Link. And again, it’s free, native to Windows, and doesn’t require you to create a separate account. The File Explorer integration is a particularly nice touch. It lets you browse and manage files on your phone almost as if it were another drive connected to your PC. AirDroid doesn’t come close. It also doesn’t help itself by showing ads in the free version and locking specific features behind a paywall.
AirDroid does have a couple of tricks up its sleeve. It works on macOS, and you can even access your phone through a web browser if you don’t want to install a desktop app.
Camo Studio or DroidCam
Phone Link does the same for free
Most built-in laptop webcams are still pretty terrible. And even if you splurge on an external one, it’s unlikely to match the camera on your phone. Apps like Camo Studio and DroidCam offered exactly that. They let you use your phone’s camera for video calls, either over USB or wirelessly.
Phone Link can also do that now. And if you’re already using it, it doesn’t make sense to install another app just for webcam support. It lets you switch between the front and rear camera lenses and apply effects, like HDR, background blur, stabilization, and soft focus. And yes, it also works wirelessly.
Camo Studio and DroidCam aren’t completely dead in the water, though. They both offer something that Phone Link doesn’t, which is the ability to use an iPhone as a webcam. Camo Studio also offers more granular controls over resolution, frame rate, and exposure, which is handy if you’re using your phone’s camera for streaming or recording yourself. DroidCam, meanwhile, offers custom overlays and an OBS plugin.
Samsung Flow or Intel Unison
One’s fading, one’s already gone
These last two are a bit different because they weren’t some niche underdogs. They were both backed by two of the biggest names in tech, and yet Phone Link still managed to make both of them irrelevant.
Samsung Flow was built specifically for Galaxy phones. It covered the basics well, including notification sync, file transfer, screen mirroring, and even a chat-like interface to transfer text between devices. It made sense, but Phone Link has become the better option. It does almost everything Samsung Flow does and also offers a few features that are exclusive to Galaxy phones, like instant hotspot and clipboard sync.
Intel Unison is a different story because it’s not just irrelevant — it’s actually dead. Intel officially pulled the plug in June 2025. It was the closest thing to a like-for-like replacement for Phone Link because it was free. When it first launched, its biggest pull was robust support for iPhones, but it didn’t take long for Microsoft to catch up.
Phone Link is one of those rare Microsoft apps that doesn’t disappoint. While most of these apps I mentioned are still around, they’re mostly relevant for niche use cases. And Phone Link isn’t the only Microsoft app that has done this. Microsoft PowerToys has also made some classic Windows apps irrelevant in 2026.
