Windows 11’s New Android App Resume: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It Matters
Introduction: A small banner with big implications
On August 22, 2025, Microsoft began rolling out a deceptively simple capability to Windows Insiders that could reshape how we move between phone and PC. When you’re using a supported app on your Android phone and sit down at your Windows 11 machine, a “Resume from your phone” prompt appears on your taskbar. Click it, and the desktop version of that same app opens to the right place so you can keep going without hunting, tapping, or re‑signing in.
At launch, Spotify is the headline partner, and the experience is already polished: start a track or podcast on your phone, and—if your PC is on an eligible Insider build—you’ll see an alert offering to continue on your PC. If the Spotify desktop app isn’t installed, Windows will fast‑track a one‑click installation from the Microsoft Store and hand you off to the exact content you were playing. Microsoft says this is just the start; the mechanism is built to support more apps over time, and there’s a clear developer path for others to plug in.
This feature will inevitably be confused with the retired Windows Subsystem for Android and the Amazon Appstore on Windows. It isn’t that. There’s no full Android runtime on your PC, no emulation, and no app streaming. Think of it as cross‑device continuity: a secure handoff that deep‑links you from the current state on your Android phone into the corresponding app on Windows (or a web fallback), preserving context so you can get on with your task.
Below, we break down how Android app resumption works, what you need to try it, how it differs from the retired Amazon Appstore/WSA experience, and what it means for power users, IT admins, and developers. We’ll also outline caveats, troubleshooting steps, and a realistic testing methodology you can use to evaluate the feature in your environment.
How Android app resumption works under the hood
At a high level, Windows 11’s Android app resumption combines three elements:
- Device linkage and permissions: Windows 11 pairs with your Android phone through the Link to Windows app (also known as Phone Link on the PC side). This establishes a trusted relationship and background channel for notifications and signals.
- Cross‑device “resume” signal: When you perform a supported action on Android (for example, play a specific Spotify track), the phone publishes a small piece of context—essentially a deep link representing “what you’re doing right now.”
- Contextual activation on Windows: On your PC, Windows recognizes that deep link, displays a “Resume from your phone” alert, and opens the corresponding Windows desktop app (or, where appropriate, a website) to the same content/state. If the companion app isn’t installed, Windows initiates a one‑click install flow from the Microsoft Store and then continues the handoff.
- No Android runtime is involved. The PC is not running Android, and it’s not mirroring your phone’s screen. It’s launching a Windows app (or a web page) at the right place.
- Continuity is app‑specific. For now, Spotify is the primary example Microsoft is publicizing. The mechanism is general, but each developer needs to implement “Resume” so the context handoff makes sense for their app.
- The experience is first‑party and integrated. The prompt is delivered by Windows, surfaced on the taskbar, and governed by OS‑level notification, privacy, and device‑link settings.
As of late August 2025, the feature is rolling out gradually to Windows Insiders. To test it today, you need:
- Windows 11 Insider Preview in the Dev or Beta Channel. Ensure you’re on a recent Build 26200 series release and, in Settings > Windows Update, turn on “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available.”
- A supported Android phone running the Link to Windows app (most modern Android devices are supported; Samsung and Surface devices historically had the earliest/fullest Phone Link features, but this capability is not limited to a single OEM).
- The Link to Windows/Phone Link pairing completed, with background activity allowed on your phone so the resume signal is reliable.
- The same account alignment where applicable. For example, to continue Spotify playback, you must be logged into the same Spotify account on both phone and PC.
- If you plan to resume into a Windows desktop app (like Spotify), have it installed on the PC—or let Windows install it for you when prompted.
1) Pair your phone and PC
- On your PC: Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices. Turn on “Allow this PC to access your mobile devices,” then choose Manage devices and follow the flow to link your Android phone.
- On your phone: Open Link to Windows and complete the pairing prompts. Allow it to run in the background so it can deliver the resume signal reliably.
- On the PC: Ensure notifications are enabled for the system and not suppressed by Focus Assist/Do Not Disturb. The resume experience shows up as an alert on your taskbar.
- On your phone: Make sure Link to Windows has notification access and isn’t restricted by battery optimization policies.
- Start playing a song or podcast on your phone in Spotify.
- Watch the taskbar on your PC. Within moments, you should see a “Resume from your phone” prompt referencing Spotify and the content you’re playing.
- Click the prompt. If Spotify is already installed on the PC, it opens and picks up where your phone left off. If not, Windows offers a one‑click install from the Microsoft Store, signs you in, and then continues.
- Don’t want the prompts? You can mute or turn off these alerts like any other notification, or disable phone access under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices.
- Switching accounts? If the app on your PC is signed in to a different identity than the one on your phone (e.g., personal vs. work Spotify), you may be prompted to sign in with the matching account to complete the resume.
- Availability: As of August 22, 2025, Microsoft is gradually rolling this out to Dev and Beta Channel Insiders. Because this is a controlled feature rollout, you might not see the feature immediately even on an eligible build. Keep the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” toggle on to increase your chances of early access, and be patient—Microsoft ramps up based on feedback and reliability.
- Apps: Spotify is the first visible integration. Microsoft has published developer guidance so more apps—from media to productivity—can participate over time.
- General release timing: Microsoft hasn’t committed to a public release date for all users. Expect the feature to mature in the Insider rings before it becomes part of a mainstream Windows 11 update.
The now‑retired Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) and the Amazon Appstore on Windows allowed you to install and run certain Android apps natively in a sandboxed Android runtime on your PC. That initiative ended consumer support in early March 2025. Android app resumption is a different strategy:
- No Android execution on your PC: You’re not running Android code windowside. Windows launches a native desktop app (or web) at the right spot.
- Complementary, not replacement: For media, shopping, and productivity apps that already have strong Windows clients or web experiences, continuity is more seamless than emulation: your PC opens the “real” Windows app with all the local integrations (system media controls, audio devices, windowing, accessibility, etc.).
- Lower friction for developers: Instead of building and maintaining an Android-on‑Windows variant, developers can expose stateful handoff via deep links and a small integration, letting Windows orchestrate the transition.
- The commuter: You’re listening to a podcast on the train. You sit at your desk, click “Resume from your phone,” and Spotify on Windows picks up mid‑episode through your studio headphones.
- The fitness‑to‑focus hop: You end a run while a playlist is playing on your phone. When you open your laptop, you resume the same playlist to keep your flow while answering email.
- The “send me that track” teammate: A colleague pings you a share link that opens on your phone while you grab a coffee. Back at the PC, one click resumes in the desktop app so you can queue it to your workday playlist.
- App support is currently limited: At launch, Spotify is the canonical example. Others will need to integrate to participate. Until they do, you will not see resume prompts for those apps.
- Identity alignment matters: If the PC app is signed into a different account than the phone app, the handoff may stop at a sign‑in prompt. For seamless continuity, match identities.
- Web fallbacks vary: Some apps may resume into a browser if no desktop client exists. The quality of that experience depends on the site’s deep-link handling and sign‑in state.
- Enterprise policies might block it: Organizations can restrict Phone Link/Link to Windows or limit background activity on corporate phones. Expect variability in managed environments.
- It’s not “mirroring” state in every app: The handoff is contextual. If an app doesn’t have a meaningful deep link for the action you performed on your phone, resumption may not land precisely where you expect.
If you’re evaluating the feature—or writing up your own lab results—use a structured plan so your findings are comparable over time:
Environment
- PCs: Two Windows 11 Insider machines (one Dev, one Beta) on recent 26200-series builds with the “latest updates” toggle enabled.
- Phones: At least two Android devices from different OEMs (e.g., Samsung and Google) running current Link to Windows.
- Network: One run on corporate Wi‑Fi with typical security controls and one on consumer Wi‑Fi. Optional: repeat on mobile hotspot with weaker signal to test resilience.
- Accounts: Personal and work identities where relevant (e.g., separate Spotify accounts, different Microsoft accounts on phone vs. PC).
- T1: Cold start to resume. Phone screen off; you start playback. Time how long until the taskbar shows the resume prompt. Click it and measure time to playback on PC.
- T2: App not installed. Play on phone, then accept Windows’ one‑click install flow. Measure “click to playback” duration and note any sign‑in prompts, MFA, or Store quirks.
- T3: Account mismatch. Intentionally sign into different accounts on phone and PC Spotify. Observe prompts and document friction.
- T4: Web fallback. Uninstall the PC app and attempt to resume; document where the handoff lands (web player), the sign‑in state, and playback quality.
- T5: Battery‑saver restrictions. On Android, restrict Link to Windows background activity and repeat T1. Note whether the prompt still arrives; if not, which permissions need restoring.
- T6: Multi‑PC, single phone. Pair your phone with two PCs and start playback. Note which PC receives the prompt first, whether prompts appear on both, and timing differences.
- T7: Notification suppression. Enable Focus Assist/Do Not Disturb on Windows and repeat T1. Verify what happens to the alert and how you can recover it (e.g., Notification Center).
- Prompt latency: Phone action to PC prompt in seconds.
- Resume latency: Prompt click to playback continuation in seconds.
- Success rate: Percentage of successful resumes over 10 attempts per scenario.
- User‑visible friction: Count of prompts, sign‑ins, or permission requests.
- Resource impact: Optional—CPU and memory impact on the PC during resume; battery impact on phone during repeated tests.
- Media consumers: If you already rely on Spotify across devices, this adds just‑works continuity with less fiddling. It’s especially nice if you bounce between earbuds on the go and speakers at the desk.
- Multitaskers: The resume prompt reduces context‑switch overhead. Instead of unlocking your phone, searching for a share button, or finding the same item on your PC, one click gets you there.
- Teams working in parallel: As more apps add Resume (think browsers, note‑taking, task managers), your morning “triage on phone” can hand off cleanly to your PC without losing the tab, doc, or task state.
- Policy and governance: Phone Link/Link to Windows can be governed in managed environments. If your organization blocks device linking or background app communication, the resume feature won’t appear. Review your MDM policies to decide whether this continuity improves or complicates your user experience and data governance.
- Identity, Conditional Access, and DLP: Contextual resume only works cleanly when identities line up. In BYOD or multi‑tenant scenarios, an employee’s personal phone account could try to resume into a corporate‑controlled desktop app. Expect sign‑in gates, MFA prompts, or policy‑driven blocks. Test with Conditional Access and DLP policies in place to ensure that deep links never bypass your controls.
- Change management: For many users, this flow will be new. Provide short, visual guidance on what the “Resume from your phone” prompt is, how to use it, and how to turn it off if they don’t want it.
- Support playbook: Add a one‑page troubleshooting checklist (see below) to your help desk knowledge base. Early issues will be misconfigurations (notification suppression, background restrictions, unmatched accounts) rather than defects.
- Minimal data sharing: The PC doesn’t see your phone’s screen or gain broad access to your Android data. It receives just enough context to launch the right experience—typically a deep link into a specific resource (e.g., a Spotify track).
- User‑controlled pairing: You must explicitly link your phone and PC, and you can break that link anytime in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices. Removing a device revokes resume prompts.
- Manage prompts and noise: Like any notification, you can mute or disable these alerts per app or system‑wide. If you prefer a quieter desktop, you stay in control.
- App‑level privacy still applies: Once you resume into an app or a website, that service’s privacy, telemetry, and account policies govern your session. Nothing about resume bypasses MFA, SSO, or organization policies.
- Multiple phones: If you pair more than one Android phone to a PC, be mindful of which device produced the resume prompt. The alert text will reference the app and often the content, but not always the originating device name.
- Multiple PCs: If your phone is linked to a laptop and a desktop that are both powered on, only one PC may surface the prompt first depending on recency of use and connectivity. In testing, prompts typically favor the PC you interacted with most recently.
- Offline transitions: If your PC is offline when the prompt arrives, clicking it may queue the action until connectivity returns, or it may open the app without landing on the exact content. Behavior varies by app.
- App not updated: If a desktop app lags behind the deep‑link scheme an Android app is using, the resume may fall back to a generic launch rather than landing precisely where you were.
- Verify build and toggle: Confirm you’re on an eligible Insider build and that “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” is turned on. Gradual rollouts mean timing varies.
- Check pairing state: Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices. If your phone isn’t listed or shows errors, remove and re‑link it.
- Allow background activity on Android: In the phone’s app settings for Link to Windows, allow background activity and notification access. Disable aggressive battery optimization for this app.
- Unmute notifications on Windows: Ensure Do Not Disturb/Focus Assist is off, and that system notifications aren’t suppressed.
- Match app accounts: If you’re trying Spotify, sign into the same Spotify account on phone and PC.
- Reinstall the desktop app: If the handoff stalls, uninstall and reinstall the Windows app from the Microsoft Store, then try again.
- Corporate device? Ask IT: If you’re on a managed PC or phone, policy may disable Link to Windows features. Check with your administrator.
Over the past few years, Microsoft has steadily expanded the connective tissue between Windows and mobile devices—from notifications and messaging to photo transfer and app mirroring on select phones. Android app resumption is the next logical step: less about mirroring, more about intent. Rather than porting every mobile app to Windows or maintaining a full Android runtime, Microsoft is betting on first‑class Windows apps and the web, tied together with clean handoffs so you keep your flow.
For developers, the ask is modest and the payoff is high: surface a consistent deep‑link model and hook into Windows’ cross‑device resume so your users can move fluidly between phone and PC. For users, the benefit is immediate—a tiny reduction in friction, multiplied by every context switch you make in a day.
Roadmap: what to watch next
- More categories of apps: Media is a natural first mover. Expect browsers, note‑taking, task managers, shopping, and calendar clients to explore resume handoffs next.
- Deeper state continuity: Beyond opening to a track or page, apps may resume editing cursors, scroll positions, or in‑progress tasks as their desktop and mobile clients coordinate state more richly.
- Enterprise‑grade integrations: If business apps adopt resume, expect tighter alignment with identity providers, Conditional Access, and app protection policies so continuity remains secure and compliant.
- Smarter prompts: As Microsoft gathers feedback, the taskbar alert could become more predictive—offering multiple resume targets (e.g., “Open in app” or “Open in web”) or grouping handoffs when you switch devices after a busy commute.
Does this mean Android apps are “back” on Windows?
No. This feature doesn’t resurrect the Android runtime on Windows. It’s a context handoff from Android to the native Windows app or the web.
Will this work if I don’t install the Windows app?
Often, yes—Windows can open the relevant content in your default browser if the service supports web deep links. The experience won’t always be equal to a desktop app and may prompt you to sign in.
Can I disable it?
Yes. You can unlink your phone under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices, mute the specific alerts, or turn off system notifications.
What if I use a work profile on Android?
Behavior depends on your organization’s management policies. In some environments, Link to Windows may be restricted from accessing work‑profile app activity. Test with your IT team.
Conclusion: Continuity that respects the platform
Windows 11’s Android app resume is a pragmatic step toward a world where devices cooperate rather than compete. By focusing on intent instead of emulation, Microsoft avoids the complexity of running Android on Windows while giving users the continuity that matters: when you sit down at your PC, your work—or your music—follows you there.
Today, it’s a polished experience with Spotify and a promising developer pathway for others. In the months ahead, the value will grow with each new app that participates. If you live multi‑device lives—as most of us do—this is the kind of feature you notice once, appreciate instantly, and then quietly rely on dozens of times a week.
For Insiders, it’s also a reminder: keep feedback flowing. The sooner Microsoft and app makers hear what works (and what doesn’t) in real environments, the sooner seamless handoff becomes an everyday superpower for everyone on Windows 11.
Source: TechJuice Microsoft Enhances Windows 11 with Android App Resume Support
Source: WebProNews Windows 11 Build 26200 Enables Android App Resumption on PCs
Source: ProPakistani Windows 11 Will Let You Resume Android Apps on Windows
