Microsoft, You Can Do Better: Windows 11's Resume Feature Falls Short of Apple's Handoff
Imagine starting a task on your phone and seamlessly picking it up on your computer without missing a beat. Both Windows 11 and macOS promise this kind of cross-device magic, allowing you to reply to texts, run apps, view notifications, and even use your phone as a webcam or Wi-Fi hotspot. But here’s where it gets controversial: while Microsoft’s Phone Link lets you juggle multiple apps on your PC, Apple’s Continuity—specifically its Handoff feature—outshines with its ability to work in the same app across devices. Handoff has been a game-changer for over a decade, while Windows’ Resume feature is just getting started and feels like a distant second in terms of app support and user-friendliness.
Microsoft plans to expand Resume to include PDFs, Spotify, and more, but can it truly catch up? For now, let’s dive into how it works—and where it stumbles.
Setting Up Resume: Simple, Yet Limited
To use Resume, you’ll need a Windows 11 PC and an Android phone (version 10 or later) from specific brands like Honor, Oppo, Samsung, Vivo, or Xiaomi. (Note: Only Samsung officially sells phones in the U.S. among these.) Connect your phone to your PC via Phone Link, and you’re halfway there.
Enabling Resume is straightforward: open the Settings app, head to the Apps section, and find the Resume option at the bottom. Toggle it on and choose which apps you’d like to use with it. But here’s the catch: currently, only OneDrive and apps tied to it—like Excel, OneNote, and PowerPoint—support Resume. Even Microsoft Edge is left out, though you can view your browsing history across devices if you’re logged into the same account.
Handoff vs. Resume: The App Gap
Apple’s Handoff, on the other hand, supports not just all of Apple’s first-party apps (think FaceTime, iWork, Mail, Safari) but also popular third-party apps like Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft 365. And this is the part most people miss: Handoff lets you move seamlessly from desktop to mobile, a feature Resume lacks entirely. While Microsoft can’t control Android hardware like Apple controls its ecosystem, it’s fair to ask: shouldn’t there be a better solution?
The Trial-and-Error Reality of Resume
Testing Resume wasn’t without hiccups. I tried editing a document in the mobile Word app on my Samsung Galaxy, expecting to resume on my PC. Instead, I encountered confusion with notifications and system settings. Only after turning on system notifications and locking my PC did the Resume icon finally appear. Success—but it felt more like a workaround than a polished feature.
Apple’s Handoff, by contrast, doesn’t require locking your computer; it just works. Microsoft’s Resume has a slight security edge here, but Apple’s convenience wins out. And this is where it gets even more complicated: Windows 11 also has Phone Link Task Continuity, a feature with a confusingly similar name that supports more apps but feels like a relic compared to Resume. Microsoft is pushing developers toward Resume, but the transition risks being messy.
The Bottom Line: Resume Needs Work
Resume isn’t a failure, but it’s far from matching Handoff’s smoothness or versatility. Microsoft must prioritize expanding app support to include its own cross-platform apps and popular third-party options like Adobe Creative Cloud, Google Chrome, and more streaming services. The challenges are real, given Android’s fragmented ecosystem, but Apple’s features will only improve in the meantime.
Controversial Question: Can Microsoft ever truly compete with Apple’s seamless integration, or is it fighting an uphill battle? Share your thoughts in the comments—let’s spark a debate!
