How to Sync Settings on Windows Phone 8.1 to Other Devices

With Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft is bridging the gap between phones, tablets and PCs. We are starting to see similarities in all the three systems and we already have apps which are compatible with both phones and tablets running Windows 8.1. One of the important changes in Windows Phone 8.1 is the sync settings. Sync features in Windows Phone 8.1, which let you sync key settings between your handset and your Windows 8.1 based PCs and tablets.

There are four settings which can be synced and they are- Themes, Passwords, Internet Explorer and App Settings. You can go to Settings-> Sync Settings on your Phone and enable it.

1. Theme:

As of now although there is theme sync, it does not work perfectly because there are changes in the way start screen is displayed in Windows Phone and Windows 8. So the accent color in Windows Phone 8.1 is only synced to background color in Windows 8 and since there isn’t the exact color on Windows 8.1, it is approximated to the nearest one. But we expect this to be refined in coming months.

Img Credit: WinSuperSite

2. App Settings:

As of now there are only a few apps which are available for both the OS and this will be available only after we have more apps supporting both the OS. Since there is API to built Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.1 apps, we can expect this feature to be useful in future. Probably the Bing apps on both the platforms might support this.

3. Internet Explorer:

With the new sync settings on Internet Explorer 11, you can now view any tabs that are open on your other PCs, tablets and phones and it also syncs your favorites list, history, and browser settings. This is pretty handy option to have especially when you want to view the tabs on other devices.

4. Passwords:

There is no clear information on which all passwords can be synced right now. But we think it could be Wi-Fi passwords and also the Internet Explorer saved passwords.