How to Make Android and Windows Play Nicely Together

Microsoft doesn’t have a viable mobile platform of its own, so it’s become a prolific developer of its services to Android and iOS.

To that end, all the key Office apps that you could possibly need are on Android. Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, and even newer tools like Microsoft Sway. Microsoft even has its own app dedicated to find your Microsoft apps. I’m not sure I fully understand that one (you’ll do just fine searching for “Microsoft” in the Play Store) but rest assured if there’s a Microsoft service, there’ll be an Android app for it.

If you’re a devotee to Redmond’s platform, then you can change the way some core elements of your phone works to make it more in sync with the Microsoft way. You can start with the Next Lock Screen, which puts relevant details at the front before you unlock your phone.

There are calendar appointments, weather updates, and a bevy of colorful images thanks to Bing’s daily collection. Speaking of Bing, you can start a search right away through either Microsoft’s engine or the Google Assistant on a supported phone.

If you’re interested in a more extensive change to how your phone works, then check out Arrow Launcher. It’s a clever rethinking of the Android experience, with a tilt towards organization and productivity.

Personally, I’m more embedded with Google services so I stick close to Pixel setup, but both alternatives are very well done and might be right if you want a closer tie to Microsoft’s services and applications.

One of the strongest points of connection between iOS and macOS is iMessage. Getting a quick text on your computer and being able to leave your phone on the desk is a massive time saver.

Things aren’t quite so nice in the substandard world of SMS. However, Cortana is here to rescue you by sending message notifications to the desktop. It’s not quite the mirrored experience, as messages appear in the Notification Center and don’t stay anywhere permanently on your machine.

This arrangement does give you the ability to respond to messages without having to fumble for your phone. In the Cortana Android app, go to the settings and enable sync notifications and incoming message notifications.

I’ve found at times a slight delay when employing this method. It’s almost like the Cortana Hamster needs to warm up before displaying the messages on time. Give it a go, and see if this experience works for you.

There was much weeping and gnashing of teeth from the devotees of Wunderlist when Microsoft announced it was going away in favor of the new Microsoft To-Do. Power users who have built up an extensive workflow in Wunderlist may find that Microsoft’s new take doesn’t quite cut it, but Redmond promises that with this preview version things are just getting started.

I wasn’t a Wunderlist user, so I didn’t have the feature shock that others experienced when first trying out the new application. In short, I do like it, yet it does need some more robust features like reminders, collaboration capabilities, and deeper integration with Office if it’s going to win over those hard-core Wunderlist fans. I do see that those with deeper collaboration needs or who are used to a certain workflow might be disappointed. To that I’d say consider looking at Todoist, although for the full feature set you’ll want to add in the $29 premium subscription.

Speaking of Cortana, it’s far more than just an answer bot. Microsoft is investing heavily in artificial intelligence, and Cortana’s capabilities are designed to augment that mission by serving as your digital assistant.

The key to using Cortana is in digging a little deeper into the details. With the Cortana app on your phone, things like setting a reminder, getting commute information, and tracking to-dos can be performed across devices. It gives you a lot of the same type of flavor you’d have by doing all of this with Siri (except that Cortana is way smarter).

Microsoft has done quite a bit to ramp up OneDrive recently, given that it’s a key part of the company’s Office 365 enterprise push. I used to ignore it completely, finding it far less reliable than the trusty but more expensive Dropbox.

I’ve been using it more lately as the happy, cloud home for my Office work and I do feel it’s up to par now. The real strength for seamless work is that it features where multiple editors can be working on a document at the same time.

To be honest, I still prefer Google Docs for collaboration, especially since you can only use this feature through OneDrive. It’s much easier to send out a Google Docs invite and others can jump right in. But the improvements to OneDrive are welcome, and the Android app will ensure you know where everything is saved.

It’s not big news that Microsoft’s OneNote is a free service with apps for Android and Windows. There are two for the latter – a more modern version from the Windows Store, and the desktop-focused OneNote 2016 that looks more like the rest of the Office suite.

OneNote does plenty, and it’s become an essential part of my research efforts. Microsoft has greatly improved the capabilities with the Android sharing menu, so you can now save an entire article to OneNote.

Then you can highlight and mark it up as needed.

As much as Microsoft has elevated its productivity game in recent years, for some things I still find the best experience is with the Google ecosystem. The good news here is all you really need is Chrome and a few of Google’s core apps.

The biggest thing that keeps me in sync is being able to access all my Chrome tabs. Use Ctrl – H or Chrome’s overflow menu to get there.

It’s not as right-in-front-of-you as Apple’s Handoff, but between this tool and your complete Chrome history, it’s easy to find that article you were looking at earlier in the day.

As much as Microsoft has elevated its productivity game in recent years, for some things I still find the best experience is with the Google ecosystem. The good news here is all you really need is Chrome and a few of Google’s core apps.

The biggest thing that keeps me in sync is being able to access all my Chrome tabs. Use Ctrl – H or Chrome’s overflow menu to get there.

It’s not as right-in-front-of-you as Apple’s Handoff, but between this tool and your complete Chrome history, it’s easy to find that article you were looking at earlier in the day.