Summary
- Windows phone fans can dream with a beautiful Windows 12 Mobile concept video inspired by Android and Windows 11.
- The concept features a smaller taskbar displaying core Windows features, virtual desktops, and tags in File Explorer.
- While Windows phones likely won't return, this concept is visually appealing and showcases a modern twist on Windows UI.
It's been almost ten years since Windows phones became effectively dead, but fans are still holding on to what could have been. And a new concept video by a YouTube user shows us that what could have been is beautiful. This concept video for "Windows 12 Mobile" translates the UI elements of Windows 11 to a smartphone form factor, and it looks terrific.
Windows 11: Everything you need to know
Windows 11 is the latest and greatest operating system from Microsoft, and it packs a ton of changes. Here's what you need to know.
It looks a lot like Android
Admittedly, a lot of what we see in the concept video looks like a twist on some version of Android, but that's not a bad thing. Rather than the Live Tiles Windows Phone was known for, this Windows 12 Mobile concept uses app icons and folders to display your apps. Plus it supports widgets that are more similar to an Android phone, with some taking inspiration from widgets that exist on Windows 11, like the "On This Day" widget powered by OneDrive. However, there are a few big differences.
The major difference on the home screen lies on the taskbar at the bottom, which appears to be smaller than a typical row of icons and houses core Windows features. On the far left, we have the Windows button, which opens the Start menu, and that in itself also translates very well to the smartphone form factor. There's an area with pinned apps, followed by all your apps in alphabetical order. There's also a Bing search bar at the top.
One particularly interesting bit that's shown more towards the end of the video is the task view, where you can actually have different desktops, just like on Windows 11. While Android does allow you to create separate profiles on a phone, virtual desktops are a fairly unique solution to keeping your apps separate from each other. It's almost surprising we haven't seen that on a phone yet, and it would make a lot of sense.
Some Microsoft twists
We also get a glimpse of File Explorer, which also translates really well to the smaller form factor. A collapsible side menu gives us access to the navigation tree, and the same sections you're familiar with on Windows 11 are here as well. There's also something unique here in the form of tags, which would presumably be used to label your files so you can find them more easily based on a specific topic.
The ultimate guide to File Explorer on Windows 11
File Explorer is one of the most essential tools in Windows 11, but you may not know everything about it. Let's take a closer look.
The Settings app gets a spotlight in this video, and again, it looks very much like what you would imagine the Windows 11 Settings app to look like on a phone. That idea in itself was already applied with Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile, but since Windows 11 is so much more visually appealing, all of these apps look fantastic in this concept.
Finally, the concept reveals dark mode, and it also looks fantastic. Both the wallpaper and UI elements change for dark mode, and it works great here.
Windows phones probably won't come back
Of course, as cool as the video looks, it's worth keeping in mind that Windows phones probably aren't making a return anytime soon, if ever. But it's fun to think about what they might look like today, and this concept honestly makes them seem fairly tempting. We can always dream.