Windows may have ditched Android apps, but now it wants to sync with them

Microsoft has just released a new build of Windows 11 which includes an expansion of the Cross-Device Resume function. This feature was first introduced in May 2025 and is designed to ensure that apps on different platforms play nice together.

The list of supported apps that Windows has just confirmed might cause some amusement though, because it includes Spotify, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

It's also highlighted that the Vivo browser will support syncing for a seamless switch from phone to PC, while apps opened in the Copilot app on Honor, Oppo, Samsung or Vivo phones will also be available.

This might leave some scratching their heads, as Spotify Connect already allows resumption through whichever Spotify app you open across devices (and has done for many years), while Microsoft's apps plug into cloud syncing already.

How does Windows Cross-Device Resume work?

Currently, the Cross-Device Resume function only seems to offer OneDrive, which again, is a cloud-based service, so it's forgivable if you're not excited about the opportunities that Microsoft is offering for cross-device syncing.

There's a distinction here that's worth noting: for Cross-Device Resume to function, the Windows PC and Android phone need to be connected through the Link to Windows app, as outlined on the company's support pages, letting you open an app on the toolbar of your PC and jump right into what you were doing.

While this sort of seamless interaction might look to ape some of the features of Apple's Handoff, it's a situation where much of what's offered is already in place.

For example, for those looking for syncing across browsers, Chrome already does it, allowing you to open individual pages or whole tab groups that you might have open on another device.

The controls for Cross-Device Resume can be found in the Settings on your Windows 11 device, but as I said, both devices need to be connected to each other and the internet.

While the expansion proves that Microsoft is working to enhance this feature, I'm not sure we've reached a point where it's actually useful. The aim here is to increase the seamless interaction and time will tell how central that becomes to daily use.