For a lot of users, the idea of using a PC to manage the content on their device is pretty oldschool, but there’s clearly a demand for this sort of thing. On the Mac side of things, Google themselves offer up the Android File Transfer tool, a fairly basic way of transferring files back and forth. Other third-party apps for Android and Windows include the likes of AirDroid as well as MoboRobo, so there’s clearly a lot of tools out there. Sony, who have long offered up their “PC Companion” software for their Xperia smartphones have now introduced a new version, dubbed the “Xperia Companion”.
So far, it appears as though the new Xperia Companion is pretty much the same as the previous PC Companion, but right now it only supports some of the newer devices. Right now, compatible Xperia Z devices include the latest Xperia Z5 line of devices, the Xperia Z4 Tablet and Xperia Z3+ as well as the Xperia Z3 line of devices. The new Xperia Companion program, compatible with recent versions of Windows, will allow users to transfer files to and from their connected devices, check for a software update and more. Crucially, for those that like to tinker with the software on their Xperia devices, the Xperia Companion features a “Software Repair” feature which will allow people to repair their device to a factory-fresh sort of build of Android as provided by Sony. Whether or not this will work on devices that are rooted or have unlocked bootloaders and custom recoveries, but it would be a surprise to us if it didn’t.
It’s unclear just why Sony have changed things from the PC Companion to this new Xperia Companion, but a tighter match with the “Xperia” branding is probably the driving force behind the decision. A cleaning up of code here and there is perhaps also behind the change to this new piece of software. Those looking to download the new Xperia Companion app for Windows can do so here, but as we mentioned above it’s only compatible with a handful of more recent Xperia Z devices as of writing.