Microsoft is finally closing the continuity gap between phone and PC, with a new Windows 11 feature designed to rival Apple’s Handoff. Dubbed “Cross-Device Resume”, this upcoming capability allows users to resume activity from apps like Spotify or WhatsApp on their Android phone and pick up exactly where they left off on a Windows 11 PC.
Apple’s Handoff has offered seamless transitions between iPhone, iPad, and Mac for years, letting users flick between devices as naturally as shifting focus from coffee to keyboard. Microsoft, by comparison, has dabbled in continuity with its current Phone Link system (formerly Your Phone) and Project Rome, but never quite nailed the experience. That might be about to change.
Appearing within a Build 2025 presentation, Cross-Device Resume works by syncing your app activity across devices via Microsoft’s Phone Link app and a new Android companion system app called Cross Device Services. When fully enabled, Windows 11 can serve up suggestions in the Start menu or Taskbar that mirror what you were doing on your phone. Simply tap to resume Spotify playback or dive straight back into a paused WhatsApp conversation.
It’s a small but meaningful step toward closing the ecosystem gap. For Android users, it’s the kind of glue that binds workflows together. And while it’s no secret that Apple still has the tightest integration in the industry, Microsoft’s play here is smart: it leans into Android’s dominance and strengthens Windows without needing to control both sides of the equation.
Microsoft senior product manager Aakash Varshney teased the functionality during the event, showcasing a song playing on an Android handset with a Windows 11 prompt offering to “continue where you left,” playing the same song from the same point. This is already possible via the Spotify app but now takes a single click rather than three.
Yet for all its promise, this Handoff-style feature isn’t ready for primetime. The company has since removed it from the public-facing demo and has yet to comment on the specifics as to why. Now, we just have a screengrab of the Taskbar hover card UI from reliable Windows Insider leaker Phantomofearth.
Currently, the feature isn’t even in testing in the Windows Insider program, so we’re likely a distance from it reaching release. My only question is how widespread support will be. Not even Handoff works with every third-party app in the Apple ecosystem, but as the saying goes: build it and they will come.
