What's new in Win11 Dev preview version 25231: you can open and connect to mobile hotspots directly through the Wi-Fi panel.

CTOnews.com, October 28, Microsoft today released Windows 11 preview version 25231 to the development channel, which includes an interesting new feature that users will be able to turn their computers on and connect to Android phone hotspots directly without having to manually open them.

According to Windows Central, the preview version brings updates to Microsoft's Phone Link app. This update introduces a new feature called "Instant Hotspot", which allows users to open and connect to the hotspot of the phone directly through the Windows Wi-Fi panel (even if the hotspot is off) without having to operate on the phone, just like macOS can easily connect to the user's iPhone hotspot.

"when your phone is within the range of connections, it will appear in the list of Wi-Fi networks on your PC, and you can turn on the phone's hotspot and connect to it with a single click," Microsoft said. "you no longer need to remember and enter passwords or search and open hotspots on your phone. This provides an easier and faster way for you to connect to hotspots on your phone repeatedly during your journey."

Currently, however, this feature is only available for Samsung phones running One UI 4.1.1 or later. In addition, the computer must have both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapters, Phone Link desktop apps with v1.22082.111.0 or higher, and Link To Windows mobile apps with v1.22082.142.0 or higher (pre-installed on Samsung devices).

CTOnews.com has learned that Microsoft has been trying to better integrate Android phones with Windows, and last week Microsoft released a roadmap showing the introduction of Android 13 support into Android's Windows subsystem (WSA).