I’ve been using an iPhone for years, and I’ve gotten used to the kind of seamless integration Apple builds into macOS. My Mac mini instantly picks up texts, calls, photos, clipboard data, and everything else my phone wants to share. It all just works. But when I’m at my desk for work, I’m usually on Windows, and that same level of continuity simply isn’t there. That’s why I finally decided to try out Windows Phone Link. I wanted to see whether it could bring even a little bit of that Apple-style integration into my Windows workflow.

I’ve only got one device left running Windows 10. It's an older tablet PC that I mostly use for media playback. It’s been a reliable little workhorse for years, but it isn’t eligible for Windows 11, so it’s stuck where it is. I still use Chrome on it every day, and like a lot of people holding onto older hardware, I’ve started to wonder how much longer that’s going to last.

I spend most of my time in Windows, so I’m used to thinking about malware as a fact of life. You stay patched, you avoid sketchy downloads, and you accept that a bad attachment or sloppy update can ruin your day. macOS has always felt different to me. I only use it when work requires it or when I’m in my home studio recording, and in all the years I’ve owned a Mac, it has stayed blissfully untouched by anything resembling a virus.

I used to travel quite a bit, hopping between cities for work or squeezing in a vacation or two each year. These days, between family life and a busy workload, I do not get out on the road nearly as much. When I do, I want the trip to be as smooth and stress-free as possible, and that starts with having the right apps on my phone.