Android phones could soon gain the power to shut down

Phone Link’s next trick could be remotely controlling PC power management with your Android phone. Android phones could soon gain the power to shut down, restart, or put your PC to sleep remotely. Remote shutdown and restart commands will be accompanied by warnings that the user could lose unsaved work.

If you’re putting your PC to sleep, you’ll receive a warning that your phone will be disconnected and you’ll have to wake your PC up manually. Microsoft has been very busy working on Windows 11’s integration with Android. In July, we learned that the company was prototyping several features, including a standalone Messages app you can pin and access from the Start menu.

Just a few weeks ago, Windows Insiders gained access to a new Phone Link experiment that provides more information at a glance. If that wasn’t enough, code recently found in the Link to Windows app, the Android companion app for Phone Link, hints at another feature that could come our way.