How to Get Notifications From Your Android Phone or iPhone on Windows or Mac PC

Your phone notifications can be available on a Windows or Mac machine, here’s how simple it is.

By Jagmeet Singh | Updated: 26 September 2021 09:30 IST

How to Get Notifications From Your Android Phone or iPhone on Windows or Mac PC

Photo Credit: Pexels/ Marek Levak

You can continue to work on a computer and receive your phone notifications seamlessly

Highlights

Windows users have Microsoft’s Your Phone for phone notifications
iPhone users can leverage Apple’s Continuity on Mac
Android users need to download Your Phone Companion app for the setup

Your phone notifications can come to your Windows or Mac PC to let you stay connected with your conversations while performing on your office work. Microsoft has its Your Phone app to help users on Windows desktops and laptops receive real-time notifications from their phones. It helps notify users when they receive new voice calls or messages on their phones. Similarly, Apple has its Continuity set of features available for iPhone users to let them receive real-time notifications on their Mac devices.

In this article, we're providing a step-by-step guide to help you receive your phone notifications on a Windows PC or Mac.

How to receive phone notifications on Windows PC

Before beginning with the steps you need to take to enable phone notifications on your Windows PC, it is important to check that you have the latest version of the Your Phone app installed on your computer and its companion on your phone. The app is designed to offer notification alerts from Android devices to desktops and laptops seamlessly and is available for download on Windows machines through Microsoft Store. On your Android device, you can download the Your Phone Companion app for free from Google Play.

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Open the Your Phone app on your PC.
Click on the Android box and then hit Continue.
You will now see a screen showing a URL to download the Your Phone Companion app on your Android phone.
If the app is downloaded and installed on your phone, you can click on the 'Yes, I finished installing Your Phone Companion' option. The Your Phone app on your Windows device will then show you options to let you pair your phone with the Windows device either manually or using a QR code.
Select the Open QR code option.
Now, open the Your Phone Companion app on your phone and tap Continue.
Grant permissions on the phone and then press the Continue button.
Allow the app to run in the background if you don't want to miss any notifications. Running the app in the background will, however, impact battery life on your phone.
Press Done on the phone and Get started on your computer.

The Your Phone app also has the option to connect your Windows system with an iPhone. However, its notification functionality with iOS is currently quite limited.

How to receive iPhone notifications on a Mac

You can leverage Apple's Continuity to receive iPhone notifications on your Mac. Make sure that you're using the same Apple ID on both your iPhone and Mac to receive notifications on new voice calls and messages.

If you want to set up notifications for new calls on your Mac, go to Settings > Phone and then turn on Wi-Fi Calling and Calls on Other Devices. Both require your Mac and iPhone to access the same Wi-Fi network to enable seamless notifications on new calls. You can also turn on FaceTime calling on your Mac by going to FaceTime > Preferences > Settings and selecting Calls from iPhone.

For message notifications, you need to enable text message forwarding on your iPhone. You can do this by going to Settings > Messages > Text Message Forwarding and then selecting your Mac from the list of available devices. It will require two-factor authentication, but if you haven't enabled it yet, you will be asked to enter a six-digit activation code on your iPhone that is appearing on your Mac to allow access to your text messages.

This week on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, we discuss iPhone 13, new iPad and iPad mini, and Apple Watch Series 7 — and what they mean to the Indian market. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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