Desktop Apps
The latest Desktop Apps coverage — news, analysis, and updates from the WindowsNews.AI desk.
Windows 11 Insider Builds Add One-Click Spotify Handoff from Android to PC
Microsoft is rolling out a new Windows 11 feature to Insiders that can hand off music playback from an Android phone to a PC with a single click. The capability, spotted in the latest Dev and Beta...
Microsoft Rolls Out Cross-Device 'Resume from Your Phone' to Windows 11 Insiders, Spotify First
Microsoft has begun rolling out a new cross-device continuity feature called "Resume from your phone" to Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta channels, starting with Spotify as the first supported...
Windows 11 Insider Build 26200.5761 Tests Cross-Device App Resume: Spotify Handoff Arrives First
Microsoft has started testing a new cross-device continuity feature in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5761 (KB5064093), part of the Dev Channel flighting for version 25H2. The feature, which...
Hands-On: Windows 11 'Resume from Your Phone' Brings Spotify Continuity Between Android and PC
Microsoft's latest Windows 11 Insider preview builds (Dev and Beta channels) are introducing a feature that Android and music lovers have been waiting for: seamless handoff from phone to PC. The...
Windows 11 Quietly Tests Handoff-Style Android-to-PC Resume—Starting with Spotify
Microsoft just took a page from Apple’s playbook, and then tried to erase it. During its Build 2025 developer conference, the company demoed a new Cross-Device Resume feature that mirrors Apple’s...
Ditch Subscriptions: 10 Open-Source Windows Apps That Put You Back in Control
Microsoft’s Windows ecosystem has long been defined by its vast library of third-party software, but for many power users, the real magic lies not in glossy subscription suites, but in the...
Microsoft Gives Notepad’s Right-Click Menu a Productivity Overhaul in Latest Windows 11 Insider Build
Microsoft has quietly shipped a redesigned right-click menu for Notepad in Windows 11, putting the most-used editing commands exactly where your fingers expect them. The refreshed context menu,...
Handwriting Just Got Real: Microsoft Adds Fountain and Brush Pens to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
Microsoft has quietly ported two of OneNote’s most expressive digital inking tools—the Fountain pen and Brush pen—into Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Windows, giving users a more natural,...
When Xiaomi Shrunk Windows 10 Into a $200 Tablet: The Mi Pad 2 Story
On January 26, 2016, Xiaomi began selling a version of its Mi Pad 2 tablet that ran a full, unadulterated version of Windows 10 – not a mobile offshoot, not an ARM emulation layer, but the same x86...
Meta Replaces Native WhatsApp Windows 11 App with Web-Based Wrapper: Analysis and User Impact
Meta’s move to replace the native WhatsApp app for Windows 11 with a web-based counterpart signals a notable shift in how major platforms are approaching desktop applications—and it’s a change...
The Microsoft Store’s Remarkable Revival: A Comprehensive Look at Its Evolution and Impact in 2025
The Microsoft Store’s evolution from an oft-maligned, lackluster component of the Windows ecosystem into a robust app distribution hub by 2025 stands as one of the tech world’s most surprising...
Fix Microphone Not Working: Enable Permissions in Windows 10/11
Microphone access has become an essential aspect of daily computing for millions of Windows 10 and Windows 11 users. Whether it’s for conference calls, online learning, gaming, or creative work, a...