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Apple Plans iPhone-to-Windows Copy and Paste in EU After Microsoft Request

MacRumors said:


Apple is working on a new feature that will support cross-device copy and paste between iOS devices and Windows PCs.

apple-universal-clipboard-copy-paste.jpg

Microsoft asked for the feature using Apple's EU interoperability request system for developers, which Apple implemented to comply with the Digital Markets Act. Apple began evaluating the request in March, and on June 26, proposed a project plan.

Microsoft described how the feature would be used:
  • Copy text or other supported content on their iPhone and paste it directly on their Windows PC, and vice versa.
  • Perform common productivity workflows without needing to foreground an app or take explicit repeated actions to initiate a transfer.
  • Experience clipboard synchronization as a lightweight, continuous capability rather than a manual, app-driven operation.
Apple proposed a solution that would let an iPhone share and import items from the pasteboard to a paired accessory, like a Windows PC. Apple plans to use a solution similar to the Accessory Notifications option it added for third-party wearables in the EU in iOS 26.5. Users would need to give a paired device one-time permission to paste content from an iPhone.

Right now, an app can only read an iPhone's clipboard if the app is actively running in the foreground and the user grants clipboard access with each copy/paste action. For its own devices, Apple has a Universal Clipboard feature with cross-device copy and paste between iOS and macOS.

Microsoft complained that the clipboard restrictions imposed on apps prevent the continuous synchronization of clipboard content from an iPhone to a PC or other connected device in the background.

Apple says introducing cross-device copy and paste is a significant engineering effort, with work expected to be complete by fall 2027. It will be shipped first in a developer beta for testing ahead of a public release. If the feature is added toward the end of fall 2027, it could be early 2028 before the public gets access.

It is likely that cross-device copy and paste will be limited to iPhone and Windows users in the European Union, though it is possible Apple could implement it worldwide.

Apple has brought some features it was required to support under the DMA to all countries, like eSIM transfers from iPhone to Android and simpler data transfers when switching between Android devices and iPhones. Other features, like AirPods-style pairing and notification forwarding for third-party wearables, have only rolled out in the EU.

Article Link: Apple Plans iPhone-to-Windows Copy and Paste in EU After Microsoft Request
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Me on Linux:
Let it come first and then we’ll reverse engineer it and port it for our OS.
 
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Kottu said:
I have been using Macs for more than 25 years so, I don’t use a Mac because of its integration with the iPhone, although features like AirDrop and Handoff are genuinely excellent. Similar cross-device features are becoming more common on Android as well.

Apple can’t rely on locking customers into its own ecosystem forever. While iPhone owners may be more inclined to buy a Mac, many don’t even own a laptop, and plenty use Windows PCs instead.

Better integration with Windows and even Linux wouldn’t hurt Mac sales. If anything, it could make the Mac more appealing to people who currently avoid it because of ecosystem limitations.
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Fun fact: Macs are technically PC as it stands for *Personal Computer* and not *Windows Computer*
 
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AppleTO said:
Paired how exactly…? Over Bluetooth? Or some app that has to be running on both systems?

Not that I’m in the EU, but I’d much prefer AirDrop to PC functionality.
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There's some third party apps that allow that (data is sent over internet as opposed to bluetooth so is a bit slower and clunkier)
 
jole said:
MacOS is not a DMA gatekeeper platform, so this is unlikely.

Windows is a DMA gatekeeper platform, so maybe copy from Windows to Mac will come to be... in EU.

(Yes, this is ridiculous)
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This doesn't matter if you have an iOS and macOS device. As soon as you copy it on Windows, it's gonna be in the iPhone's buffer/clipboard and from there it's gonna be synced to macOS. You might have to unlock your iPhone first though, we'll see how that's gonna work exactly.
 
segfaultdotorg said:
It's sad how Apple has no backbone anymore and just kowtows to the EU. How long until the EU makes us all switch to USB-D connectors, and Apple just goes along with it, like they did USB-C?
View attachment 2649918
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USB-C was an industry standard that Apple helped push into the market. They were dragging their feet on getting rid of Lightning from the iPhone 100% because of the licencing fees they collected. Their cries of '.....but innovation' were largely stifled by the fact that every other product they sold at the time, including their TV remote already had USB-C within. Heck, Nintendo adopted it on the Switch years before the iPhone 15 series and if you're behind the famously reticent japanese giant on anything then you're really playing catch-up.

Rewind the clock 20 years and open industry standard protocols like USB (its in the name), Bluetooth, Email, HDMI, DVD, Figure-8, Wi-Fi, the 3.5mm jack and a whole bunch of other things were developed to prevent platform lock-in and improve device interoperability. Have we forgotten why those things were great?! Apple themselves pushed for adoption of these things.

Lest we forget it was the interoperability between the iPod and Windows that set a fire under its sales figures and was starting point for all those Apple graphs with upward arrows on them over the last 20 years.
 
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Kottu said:
I have been using Macs for more than 25 years so, I don’t use a Mac because of its integration with the iPhone, although features like AirDrop and Handoff are genuinely excellent. Similar cross-device features are becoming more common on Android as well.

Apple can’t rely on locking customers into its own ecosystem forever. While iPhone owners may be more inclined to buy a Mac, many don’t even own a laptop, and plenty use Windows PCs instead.

Better integration with Windows and even Linux wouldn’t hurt Mac sales. If anything, it could make the Mac more appealing to people who currently avoid it because of ecosystem limitations.
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Apple would do well to remember that their advantageous financial position was only started by opening the iPod up to Windows users. This only then made more people buy a Mac, not less. Imagine their bottom line if they opened up the Apple Watch to Android phones or made iBooks cross-compatible as well.
 
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Ctrlos said:
Apple would do well to remember that their advantageous financial position was only started by opening the iPod up to Windows users. This only then made more people buy a Mac, not less. Imagine their bottom line if they opened up the Apple Watch to Android phones or made iBooks cross-compatible as well.
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Their advantageous financial position comes almost exclusively from the iPhone. Everything else they make is a distant second at best.
 
klasma said:
Nice. Now some company should request this for Linux as well.
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Microsoft's intent is pretty clear: they want their AI to interact seamlessly with iPhones (= no human validation at each request), and gobble some data in the way (the "continuous" part). Not a Linux thing imho.
 
Just want to say I love my windows hardware (surface pro 11 13", surface pro 12", surface go 4, and omnibook 4tb 2-in-1) and use them far more than my MacBook/iPads. Any additional integration with my iPhone is welcomed!
 
CarAnalogy said:
I'll be honest, in the moment I usually just abandon that idea and go another route, but it didn't occur to me to go to the trouble to generate a QR code for the URL.

Why, oh why, does neither Apple nor Microsoft just do that directly?
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Microsoft actually has QR code on their Authenticator page
 
Cap? How can M$ request something like this, when even amongst Apple devices this is not really possible….? I cannot paste from an iPhone to a Mac. Not even hand-off does any of that.
 
Now, if I could only use screen mirroring on my Mac in the EU instead of a feature I never wanted in the first place 😂. But yeah, make it easier for one gatekeeper to get data from another gatekeeper instead of allowing to use a device from the same manufacturer…
 
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