Microsoft is continuing to expand Windows 11’s cross-device capabilities, bringing the operating system closer to allowing users to seamlessly resume Android app activity on their PCs. The feature aims to let users pick up tasks started on their smartphones—such as music playback, document editing, or web browsing—directly on a Windows computer.
The company first introduced its cross-device resume functionality last year, initially limited to resuming OneDrive activity from an Android phone on a PC. Microsoft is now broadening this capability to include additional apps and services. With the upcoming update, users will be able to resume Spotify playback, continue working on Microsoft Office documents such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and restore browsing sessions from their phone using Microsoft Edge on their PC.
A Windows 11 screenshot demonstrating the Spotify Android app handoff feature. (Image: Microsoft)
This expanded functionality has been undergoing testing since August and is now part of the latest Windows 11 Release Preview update, which recently began rolling out. The move to the Release Preview channel suggests that the feature is nearing general availability for users.
The approach is comparable to Apple’s Handoff feature in macOS, which enables task continuity across Apple devices, including Macs, iPhones, and iPads. Microsoft formally announced its cross-device resume vision for Windows 11 during its Build developer conference last year. Previously, Windows 10 included a similar initiative known internally as Project Rome, though it saw limited adoption among developers.
In addition to cross-device resume improvements, the latest Windows 11 update introduces several other enhancements. These include expanded support for MIDI 2.0, improvements to voice typing, and added fingerprint sensor compatibility for Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security. For users with Copilot Plus PCs, the update also extends language support for the new Settings Agent to multiple languages, including German, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Hindi, Italian, and Simplified Chinese.
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