Switching from iPhone to Android and keeping your Mac: what you lose, and how to get it back

If you switch from an iPhone to an Android phone and keep your Mac, the Mac itself carries on as before. What stops is the set of features Apple calls Continuity, the things the Mac did with the iPhone: texts and calls on the Mac, the shared clipboard, Handoff, the phone as a webcam, the hotspot that connects without a password. Apple's own list has thirteen that involve an iPhone and a Mac. More than half can be replaced for free, in whole or in part. A paid app such as The Relay covers calls and tidies up several others. Four have no replacement at all. The table below goes through every one.

Publisher note: The Relay publishes this guide and is one of the products discussed. Details about other products come from each maker's own pages, checked on 1 October 2026. Prices and features change, so confirm before you buy.

What does the first week feel like?

Then you sit down at the Mac. A text arrives and the Mac stays silent. A website sends a login code and Safari no longer offers it. You copy an address on the phone, press Command-V on the Mac, and get whatever you copied yesterday. The phone rings in your bag and the Mac does not show who is calling.

Nothing is broken. Each of those was a Continuity feature, and each has the same requirement. Apple's page on Handoff, for instance, says "each device is signed in to iCloud with the same Apple Account". An Android phone cannot meet it.

Which Continuity features do I lose?

Apple's Continuity features and requirements page lists nineteen entries. These thirteen involve an iPhone and a Mac. The first column uses Apple's names.

The login-code row is not a separate entry on Apple's list. It rides on Text Message Forwarding.

The free tools named in the table are NearDrop, LocalSend, KDE Connect, scrcpy, Google Drive's document scanner, and the webcam apps Camo and Iriun. Android's USB webcam mode is described on the Android Open Source Project site, which says phone makers must enable it.

The other entries on Apple's list do not depend on the phone. Sidecar and Universal Control work between a Mac and an iPad. Auto Unlock works with an Apple Watch. Mac Virtual Display and Mirror My View belong to Apple Vision Pro, and one Continuity Camera entry is for Apple TV.

Moment 1: texts, and the codes inside them

Free fix. Google Messages for web shows your texts in a browser on the Mac and lets you reply. Steps are in Android messages on a Mac.

With The Relay. An SMS that arrives on the phone shows up on the Mac, and a login code in it is copied to the Mac's clipboard. The Relay does not send texts, so keep Google Messages for web for replies.

One job to do on the day you switch. Apple's page on deregistering iMessage says that if you moved to a non-Apple phone and are not getting texts, "you might need to deregister iMessage". It adds a detail that matters to anyone keeping a Mac: a message sent by iMessage to your Apple Account still arrives on your other Apple devices, while a text sent to your phone number arrives only on the phone. Google's switching page gives the same advice: turn off iMessage and FaceTime on the iPhone and deregister.

Moment 2: the phone rings

Nothing built into either device puts an Android call on a Mac. With The Relay an incoming call shows on the Mac, where you can accept or decline it. It does not place calls. More in Android calls on a Mac.

Moment 3: copy here, paste there

Free fix. KDE Connect shares text, with a tap on the phone to send what you copied. For web pages, Chrome's Send to your devices works if you run Chrome on both with the same Google Account.

With The Relay. The clipboard syncs both ways, for text, images, and links, and a page shared from the phone opens in the Mac's default browser. See clipboard sync between Android and a Mac.

Moment 4: getting a photo across

This one has improved. Google's Quick Share help page says a Pixel 8a or later, and certain phones from Samsung and other makers, can send to an iPhone, iPad, or macOS device through AirDrop. If you are still choosing a phone, read the list in AirDrop from Android to a Mac first.

Moment 5: the video call and the hotspot

Continuity Camera goes, but an Android phone can still be the Mac's camera. See use an Android phone as a webcam for a Mac. Instant Hotspot goes too. The phone's Wi-Fi hotspot still works with a Mac like any Wi-Fi network, with a password. Google's tethering page adds one warning: "Mac computers can't tether with Android by USB."

Mail, calendar, and contacts carry on as before. Apple's guide to internet accounts on a Mac names Google among the account types you can add.

What will The Relay not do for you?

• It will not bring back iMessage, and it is not compatible with AirDrop.
• It does not send texts or place calls from the Mac. Incoming only.
• It does not mirror the phone's screen, control the hotspot, show widgets, or take part in Apple Pay.
• It needs both devices on the same local network or in Bluetooth range.
• It is not free. Apple charged nothing extra for Continuity. The Relay costs $19.99, paid once.

It needs Android 8.0 or later and macOS 13 Ventura or later, and comes from the download page.

Questions people ask

Will my Mac still get my text messages?

Not texts sent to your phone number. Apple says those arrive only on the phone once you are off iMessage. Use Google Messages for web to read and send them on the Mac.

Do I need to turn off iMessage before I switch?

Apple and Google both say to. Turn off iMessage and FaceTime on the iPhone, or deregister online if you no longer have it, so that texts from iPhone owners reach your new phone.

Which Android phone loses the least with a Mac?

For file sharing, one on Google's list of phones whose Quick Share works with AirDrop, which includes recent Pixel and Samsung Galaxy models. For everything else in the table, the phone's maker makes little difference.