Samsung Flow for Galaxy devices is like Apple’s Universal Control, but better

With the launch of the Galaxy S23 smartphones, the Galaxy Book3 laptops, and its present Galaxy Tab tablets, Samsung is exhibiting off a nifty trick, combining all three right into a unified system which you could management or copy from a single mouse.

It might not sound like a lot, but mousing from a pill to a PC to a telephone is one thing to see. It’s like Apple’s Universal Control, but Samsung’s implementation is way more versatile.

It’s one other twist on the previous downside. What’s one of the best ways to maneuver information from gadget to gadget? PCs have USB keys and removeable storage for simply this purpose. But telephones don’t. It’s one of many ways in which Samsung is attempting to persuade you to purchase a telephone, laptop computer, and pill, all with the corporate’s model.

One of the issues value watching out for is how particular person gadget makers typically strike gold with software program and providers. Samsung’s Quick Search app blows away the built-in search inside Windows. Lenovo’s Vantage app units the high-water mark as a administration utility. And Dell’s Mobile Connect app kicked off the flexibility to attach telephones and PCs in 2018, lengthy earlier than the Windows Phone Link function appeared. The level? All three justify shopping for the producer’s {hardware}, by promoting software program.

Add Samsung Flow to that checklist. Samsung’s Flow is an present app inside the Galaxy ecosystem, but the corporate is enhancing it with the discharge of the brand new Galaxy S23 sequence. Flow already means that you can switch information between the Tab pill and the Galaxy Book sequence. The newest model means that you can mouse between all three devices (telephone, pill and laptop computer) and switch information. That sounds easy sufficient, but we predict you’ll see the potential: With the telephone and pill inside view, you possibly can management them with the brand new Galaxy Book3 laptops, in addition to rapidly seize a photograph or a doc that you simply had beforehand saved to your telephone and transfer it to a different gadget.

If that’s not adequate for you, you possibly can entry your telephone’s apps instantly out of your Windows PC by way of Phone Link, but solely by means of most Samsung Galaxy telephones, the Surface Duo, and choose devices made by Honor. It’s a choose partnership between Microsoft and Samsung that’s by no means been absolutely defined, although Samsung’s self-positioning because the “Apple” of Android devices might have one thing to do with it. You can nonetheless pull images out of your Android telephone and creator texts, but the expertise has been optimized for Galaxy telephones.

There are definitely different methods to do that: save paperwork to the cloud after which obtain them on one other gadget, e mail them to your self, and so forth. But having the ability to merely mouse throughout devices is like a cross-device model of Mouse with out Borders, a captivating free app for Windows PCs that does the identical factor.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Samsung is launching the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra starting at the moment, a 6.8-inch telephone which shall be obtainable in Phantom Black, Green, Cream and Lavender for $1,199. The Galaxy S23+, with a 6.6-inch show, shall be priced at $999. Finally, the S23, a 6.1-inch telephone for $799.99 can even go on gross sales. You can preorder all three telephones at the moment, with shipments and in-store purchases starting on Feb. 17.

Want extra particulars on Samsung’s new telephones? Check out the protection on TechAdvisor, our sister website.