Remember when everyone wanted your phone and your laptop? Dell is finally throwing in the towel (through Windows Central).
on a support pageDell has announced that it is discontinuing Mobile Connect, the program that syncs your phone’s text messages, calls, and notifications to your computer. While Dell stops downloading on November 30 for users in the US, Canada and Japan, it will no longer be available for use from January 31, 2023. The service will be shutting down even earlier for users outside of these three countries, with downloads ending July 31 and a total shutdown on November 30.
Dell Mobile Connect – also known as Alienware Mobile Connect – made its debut in 2018 and of course it should work best with 2018 or later Dell laptops. The program is compatible with both iPhone and Android phones, but it directly offered more features for Android devices, such as screen mirroring, which arrived on the Mobile Connect app for iPhone in 2020.
Microsoft offers a similar feature on Windows 10 and 11 PCs called Phone Link (formerly known as the Your Phone app). Phone Link does everything Mobile Connect does, allowing you to mirror notifications on your PC, take calls and texts, and transfer files. But the main difference is that Phone Link does not support iPhones, while Mobile Connect does.
If you’re into Mobile Connect, it seems like the possibilities aren’t going away forever. As noted by Windows Central, Intel actually bought the software behind Dell Mobile Connect in 2021, called Screenovate. Intel already showed its plans to sync your PC with your Android, iPhone and smartwatch at CES 2022, and the ability is set to roll out to Intel Evo devices by the end of this year.