Apple to Build Universal Clipboard for Windows
Apple is working on a new feature that will support cross-device copy and paste between iOS devices and Windows PCs.
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.
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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.
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Apple says introducing cross-device copy and paste is a significant engineering effort, with work expected to be complete by fall 2027.
I wonder whether Apple will restrict this to the EU.
Previously:
- iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5
- Apple Appeals EU Digital Markets Act Interoperability Rules
- DMA Compliance: Default Maps App in EU
- Meta’s iOS Interoperability Requests
- DMA Compliance: Interoperability Requests
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How do you iOS & macOS people use this?
I have Pushbullet för Android and I exclusively use it for sending urls back and forth. I realize this is a thing where you don't know until you have it. So please share some use cases with me.
@Kristoffer Just copy and paste in the usual way with both devices near each other and unlocked. I don't use it all the time, but it's certainly handy for copying passwords, URLs, etc between apps without shared connectivity.
On Windows, I use Pushover to do a similar thing, but it's less private. Clearly, Apple's integrated approach is also just nicer and more intuitive.
I used to use this all the time to copy text snippets or blocks or URLs back and forth. It stopped working several years ago, though. macOS had already gotten so obscure and buggy by that time that I only spent a couple hours searching the web trying to find a fix before I gave up. Hasn't been working ever since.
> Apple says introducing cross-device copy and paste is a significant engineering effort, with work expected to be complete by fall 2027.
Hilarious!
