Microsoft's upcoming feature lets your PC and phone talk seamlessly
What's the story
Microsoft is working on a new feature, dubbed "Cross Device Resume," for Windows 11. The feature resembles Apple's Handoff function in macOS. It was unveiled during a Microsoft Build 2025 session, where Aakash Varshney, a senior product manager at Microsoft, demonstrated it with Spotify. Though the demo video has been taken down by Microsoft, Varshney shared details of the functionality in his session presentation.
Functionality
How Cross Device Resume works on Windows 11
The "Cross Device Resume" feature aims to make the transition from mobile to PC seamless. As you open an app on your mobile or tablet, Windows shows a subtle badge on the app's taskbar icon. Clicking on it opens the app directly into the task, offering an intuitive handoff from mobile to PC. Varshney explained this feature lets you resume your Spotify session on PC right where you left off on mobile.
Initiative
Microsoft previously tested an app handoff feature in Windows 10
The new Cross Device Resume feature continues Microsoft's efforts to create seamless cross-device experiences. The company first tested an app handoff feature in Windows 10 under the codename 'Project Rome' back in 2016. The initiative was aimed at letting developers create apps that could run across multiple devices and travel with users as they switched between devices. However, there has been limited adoption of Project Rome, so far.