Ask Paul: February 15 (Premium)

Happy Friday! Here’s another round of questions and answers to wind down the week.

Contacts in Android

cwfinn asks:

I have finally accepted reality and bought an Android phone (Samsung Galaxy, fwiw). I can’t seem to get my Microsoft People contacts to sync to the Android (Samsung?) Contacts. Exporting from Outlook to a DSV file was easy, Android/Samsung Contacts only wants to import vCard. Grrr. Am I missing an easy solution? I’ve used Samsung Smart Switch to “sync” my Outlook Calendar and Contacts but it is a one-time “solution” and seems to need to be done every time I add/edit a Contact and/or Calendar item.

When you say Microsoft People, I assume you mean Outlook.com and not Outlook on Web (Office 365 commercial/Exchange Online) though the process should be similar.

More important, there’s no need to export contacts and then import them on the phone. It looks like Smart Switch is a one-time tool for transferring data to your phone. What you really do want/need here is a way to sync your contacts from an online account to your phone. That way any changes you make on the phone are reflected back in the account (and vice versa).

You also want your contacts to show up in the Phone app. That way, when you receive or make a call, you won’t just see a number but will instead see the person or business that is associated with that number. If you’re using Microsoft Outlook for email/calendar, your contacts should sync with the device as well. This will populate the Phone app’s contacts list. (Otherwise, yes, you may need to export once, though any changes you make later won’t sync to the phone.)

I saw your exchange with Sprtfan in the original post, but that’s pretty much all you can do to enable sync.

Windows 10 19H1, 19H2, and 20H2

Dan1986ist asks:

Why is Microsoft referring to both 20H1 and 19H2 in regards to the latest Skip Ahead build of Windows 10? Are they changing the development cycle and how often new Windows 10 versions come out?

We can only speculate about whether they’re changing the development cycle now because Microsoft is being very vague. But there will be a 19H2 this year as well. Something about 20H2 requires Microsoft to start testing it this far in advance. My guess is that 20H2 will remain in Skip Ahead and 19H2 will be added to Fast ring once 19H1 development is complete.

I wrote about my issues with this complexity earlier today in Slow Down Windows 10 Development, You Say? (Premium)

Azure Sphere in the real world

North of 49^th asks:

Have you ever heard of any companies using Azure Sphere in products consumers might have heard of? After all of the press, everything went quiet.

I have not. And you’re right, it’s been very quiet on the Azure Sphere front after an initial burst of excitement last April.

It’s not clear what the story here is. Looking at the current Azure Sphere Development Kit, I see a note that it “can be only used for prototyping. It cannot be built into a product for commercial distribution. It cannot be re-sold or used as part of a production environment.” This is the first, and to my understanding only, Azure Sphere Development Kit and it looks like the software is currently incomplete too. “The current Azure Sphere software release does not support all features of the MT3620 hardware,” it says. From what I can see, it’s still just in preview.

But wait, there’s more.

Since writing that above, I found an Azure Sphere blog post from yesterday (!) that confirms this. It’s still in public preview.

Cortana + Alexa

helix2301 asks:

Paul have you or Brad messed with Cortana with Alexa? I think its very good and Alexa with Skype is great as well.

Only to see that it does work. I find the whole interaction to be rather ponderous and it’s not clear why anyone would need both assistants. I’m wondering if Microsoft makes it easier for other assistants to work directly with Windows 10 and its services going forward.

Tablet mode

dcdevito asks:

Paul, have you heard of any improvements to tablet mode in any upcoming Windows builds? Do you think we’ll see any at Build?

I haven’t, sorry. But with Microsoft and its PC maker partners pushing dual-display mobile PCs in the year ahead, that could certainly change.

Making the switch to iPhone

AnOldAmigaUser asks:

I have finally accepted reality and bought an iPhone XR. I tried following the instructions in iPhone for the Windows Guy to get the contacts to sync, but it seems that a few things have changed…it does seem to work with 2FA, and it looks to have worked, at least it lists Contacts for my Outlook account under Accounts. Contacts are not showing up though. Might have something to do with Fetch/Push settings, any thoughts?

Since he asked this question, he was able to fix this. But you should be able to access your contacts in Phone (or Contacts, which is still kicking around) by making sure that it’s syncing to the phone in Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Accounts. If the account isn’t there, you can add it.

Also, is there an easy way to change the app used for 2FA? I was using the old ms authenticator on windows phone, and would like to use the much more capable iOS version.

Yes. All you need to do is install the app on the iPhone and then add the account there.

Alternatively, you can go to the Microsoft Account website on your PC, navigate to Security > “more security options” > Identity verification apps > “Set up identity verification app.” You’ll be prompted to configure the Microsoft Authenticator app on your iPhone using a scan code.

The iPhone version of the app uses Face ID, which is pretty cool. (And you can turn off the account in the app on your Windows phone when this is complete too.)

Default font

Lewk asks:

Is it just me or does the Default Font setting Microsoft added this week to the Windows 10 Mail app, only change the Text in a New Email you wish to compose? Or am I doing something wrong? I was hoping it would change the Text size of emails you receive, but it doesn’t seem to.

I thought so too. So much for joining the 20th century. This is very disappointing.

Default app size and position

snow.steve22 asks:

Paul, can you give me more insight about how Windows 10 handles size and positioning of freshly-opened apps (mainly in-box apps but also store apps built by MS) . I really miss being able to set size and position and have the app remember those across different invocations and sessions. Perhaps I’ve missed something along the way but the in-box apps especially seem to be stubborn about opening themselves the same way each time regardless of how it works for my screen layout and environment.

I used to worry about this so much I used a third-party app to ensure that app windows always opened in the same place and at the same size. It’s been a while since I’ve worried about that, however, and I don’t really find this to be a problem in Windows 10. Typically, apps just open where I left them the last time.

Does anyone else see this behavior?

Which phone?

Zinger asks:

What phone is currently hosting your primary SIM?

For now, I’m still using the iPhone XR. I really like this handset, even though the camera—which is pretty great, really—isn’t quite a good as that on the Pixel 2 XL or Huawei Mate 20 Pro. I’ll need to switch back to the Huawei soon, if only temporarily, so I can finish my review though. I think I’ll be moving between phones a lot this year.

New Chromium controversy

cheetahdriver asks:

With Edge going to Chromium, how do you see the Manifest V3 controversy affecting it? With the current specification evidently breaking the adblock paradigm, and allowing information back up to the cloud despite efforts to stop it, that would seem to be forcing Edge (and Brave, and Opera) to be complicit in Google’s Plan for World Domination.

For those unfamiliar with this topic, Google recently revealed a proposed change to Chromium, the open source basis for Chrome (and, soon, Microsoft Edge) that would effectively break existing ad blockers and require their developers to rewrite them.

Google’s take on this is that it’s just a proposal and that the back and forth that’s occurring now means the development system works. And it says that it is working with extension makers to ensure that their ad blockers continue to work going forward.

But some ad blocker makers have complained that the changes will neuter their ability to block web trackers, which is the technology behind Google’s insidious ad network. Ghostery, for example, actually said it would file an antitrust complaint against Google if the firm went through with the changes. You can read more about this debate in this Wired article.

My take on this is that Google’s ostensible control of Chromium commits could eventually be a problem. And that Microsoft was crazy to announce these plans before it had secured a working relationship with Google and the Googlers that maintain Chromium. It’s only a matter of time before Microsoft proposes a change to Chromium that would benefit Edge at the expense of some Google initiative (ads, web trackers) and Google simply refuses to implement it.

You should listen to the conversation we had with Richard Campbell on this week’s Windows Weekly. We discussed the possibility of a Google/Microsoft fall-out over Chromium, and he has an interesting perspective on this.