It is part of Microsoft's plans to make its products available across multiple platforms. Microsoft plans to bring Windows 10 PCs closer to Android and iOS devices. In fact, it was a recurrent theme during Microsoft's 2017 Build Conference where the company talked about making Windows 10 work in tandem with phones. Furthermore, it is Microsoft's attempts to make cross-platform usage smoother and more helpful.
The Edge browser for iOS is available for preview under Apple's TestFlight and is limited to 10,000 users. Microsoft has invited Windows Insiders users in the US to test out the browser. Android users too can sign up for the preview which will be made available in the coming few weeks.
Microsoft recently shared Edge browser has 330 million active users. And the company has claimed that the top request from the users have been to make the browser available for phones. And Microsoft has listened and delivered.
The Edge browser on iOS runs on Apple's Webkit engine while on Android, it will run on the Chromium engine, instead of its own EdgeHTML engine.
That doesn't mean you can't have all your favourite features — Reading List, New Tab page, Reading View and more. But most importantly, Edge Mobile will support Continue on PC functionality, that lets you pick up right where you left off on your Windows PC and vice versa.
Continue on PC though requires you to have the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update which arrives on October 17th. Nevertheless, if you don't have the update, the browser and launcher will still work.
Continue on PC leverages Microsoft's cloud service and stores whatever you were doing to the Microsoft Graph. Hence, it is necessary to login to your Microsoft Account.
There are some limitations on usage though. For one, you will need to be on US English although Microsoft has promised to add support for more countries and languages. Android 4.4 KitKat or higher and iOS 10.2 or higher is needed. Plus there's no support for Android tablets and iPad yet.
Apart from the browser, Microsoft also launched a launcher for Android. It's Android-only because Apple doesn't allow anyone to mess with its launcher. And this is Microsoft's second such launcher for Android. The first being the Arrow launcher developed as a project by Microsoft Garage, that is the company's arm for experimental appls for Android and iOS.
But this isn't an evolution of the Arrow launcher. It's a successor sort of. People using Arrow Launcher Beta will get the launcher today, and once it is out of preview, user s will be automatically upgraded to it.
The launcher is based on Microsoft's Fluent Design and is customisable. You can put icons of your favourite people right on your home screen. Swipe right for a tailored feed of important events, top news, favourite people and frequently used apps. Set background colours, add gestures and more.
Furthermore, Continue on PC will be available for the launcher as well. You can resume work on your photos, documents and emails and so on. The launcher is a far more useful application of the feature than the browser so to say, and we hope Microsoft takes the features go places.
Source: Microsoft fulfills its plans to make Windows 10 work better with phones, releases Edge Mobile and Microsoft Launcher
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