The Dell Mobile Connect and Alienware Mobile Connect apps - which allowed users to send text messages from their computers since launching in 2018 - are set to be discontinued.
Making hands-free calls and sending and receiving SMS and MMS messages have been key to the Dell Mobile Connect app, which also allowed users to display phone notifications on their computer screens, and to control their phone screens with their computer’s mouse or trackpad, among other features.
Both the Dell Mobile Connect app and its Alienware Mobile Connect equivalent are set to be available for download in the US, Canada, and Japan, until November 30, 2022. The services will stay live until January 31, 2023, when they will be turned off. Users outside of these countries - including the UK and many European countries - will have less time, as the apps will only be available until July 31, 2022, with services shutting down on November 30, 2022.
Dell Mobile Connect
The news was revealed in a Dell support page article, which added users would be able to keep using the apps right up until the end date.
"Dell recommends uninstalling Dell Mobile Connect or Alienware Mobile Connect from both your Dell computer and mobile devices by the regional discontinue date. This frees up storage space and ensures an optimum device experience," the page noted.
Dell Mobile Connect alternatives
While Dell’s latest computers have stopped shipping with the software pre-installed, this isn’t the end of the road for SMS services on your PC. Other apps, like Microsoft’s Phone Link, will continue to operate.
While the Dell and Alienware apps have been available on iOS and Android, Link to Windows is an Android-only app and is only compatible with Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems. Apple users will still be able to share messages between devices over iCloud, but doing so on a Windows device will require other third-party software.
Screenovate, the company behind Dell Mobile Connect's technology, was actually bought by Intel in 2021, meaning the software could raise its head somewhere else soon.
Windows Central claims the company is set to release its own similar tool by the end of this year, with Intel Evo devices among the first to have computer, smartphone, and smartwatch syncing capabilities.
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