You’ll soon be able to use mobile data on your phones with Phone Link on Windows 11

What you need to know

• Microsoft has rolled out a new Windows 11 preview for Insiders in the Dev Channel.
• It includes a handful of fixes and improvements.
• There’s also a new Phone Link update that adds support for mobile data hotspotting.

Microsoft has started rolling out a new Windows 11 preview to Insiders in the Dev Channel that brings a handful of fixes and improvements, including a new Phone Link feature that lets users connect to their phone’s mobile hotspot directly from the Windows 11 Wi-Fi panel , just like you can between an iPhone and Mac.

The new feature currently only works for Samsung devices running OneUI 4.1.1 or later, although we suspect this will also come to Surface Duo devices in the future. Microsoft has been working to better integrate Android phones with Windows, and it’s features like this that go a long way.

Here is the changelog for today’s preview build, which is build 25231:

• The change that began rolling out with Build 25179 to the spelling dictionary so that it now uses a language-neutral dictionary and syncs across all devices using the same Windows account is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. Users can toggle this feature via Settings > Accounts > Windows Backup > Remember my preferences > Language settings. This currently only works with Microsoft accounts today, with AAD support coming later.
• The tablet-optimized taskbar that started rolling out with Build 25197 is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, as are the system status improvements that started rolling out with Build 25211 that include drag and drop.
• The cloud suggestion feature Simplified Chinese IME that started rolling out with Build 25217 is now available to all Insiders in the Dev Channel.
• When you move your mouse over the audio icon on Quick Settings, the tooltip will now appear when spatial audio is in use – not just that it’s enabled.
• Removed the backplate from UWP app icons in Apps > Default Apps and Apps > Apps for Websites.
• Fixed the font used in the Wi-Fi section of Quick Settings when Wi-Fi was off to match the other text in Quick Settings
• Fixed an issue believed to be causing some network cameras to unexpectedly not be added when selecting them under Bluetooth & Devices > Cameras.
• Improved DPI awareness when launching setup.exe from a mounted ISO, so the first logo while preparing should no longer be blurry in certain cases.
• Fixed a rare issue where FindWindow (opens in a new tab) and FindWindowEx (opens in a new tab) may return an unexpected window.
• Fixed an issue where you would sometimes not be able to use FIDO to unlock your PC if it was connected to an external display with the laptop lid closed.
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused certain apps (such as Paint and Windows Terminal) to crash when trying to display a tooltip.