Microsoft confirms that Android and iOS devices will get Windows Hello authentication support

1 min. read

Published on October 3, 2016

published on October 3, 2016

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It’s more than clear to anyone who’s been paying attention that Microsoft’s cross-platform strategy is no passing fancy. The company is committed to supporting every relevant platform in its transition to a “cloud-first, mobile-first” productivity company across the board. Certainly, Microsoft has been consistently providing excellent first-party apps for iOS and Android, sometimes before producing Windows 10 versions, and the company has integrated Windows 10 very tightly with Android smartphones.

At Ignite 2016, Microsoft provided some confirmation that they will be pushing one Windows 10-specific feature to iOS and Android devices. Specifically, it looks like the company will definitely be expanding Windows 10’s Hello authentication technology to support iOS and Android “companion devices.”

Consider the following slides:

Windows Hello Companion Device Framework (Source: wccftech.com).

Hello Windows — 2nd Factor Authentication in Windows 10 Anniversary Update (Source: wccftech.com).

They clearly indicate that Windows 10 Hello will support more types of devices for authenticating, meaning that although the company may want its users to continue using Windows 10 machines, it’s not nearly so important that they use Windows 10 Mobile devices for 2nd-factor authentication. We’ll be keeping our eye on this development to see how many other technologies will make it to competitive platforms.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time). For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web. Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they're looking for.