Apple's new iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models have brought some noteworthy improvements over their predecessors, but they haven't convinced me to ditch my Android phone just yet. I am hoping Apple will bring even bigger changes next year, which is why I've decided to stick with my trusty Pixel 7 and the Galaxy S23 for now. I am not too pumped about that as a Mac user, though, because Apple's Mac computers don't necessarily play nice with Android phones and vice versa.
Apple still favors its own ecosystem, so you won't have the same consistent experience iPhone and Mac users enjoy. But there are ways to make things work if you don't want to give up your trusty Android phone just to have a seamless experience. Here's how I make my MacBook Air play nice with my Pixel 7 for my day-to-day usage.
Messaging
The blue and green bubble dilemma
It's 2023, and both Google and Apple are still going back and forth over a convoluted messaging system. Yes, Apple may have announced its plan to bring RCS to the iPhone next year, but it's not here yet, and it won't magically allow you to use iMessage on Android phones somehow. I'd love to see the day when Google and Apple shrug it all off and let us have the best of both worlds, but I think I have a better chance of going to Mars. Right, Elon?
Anyway, if you're willing to look past the whole bubble situation, then I suggest using the Google Messages web app on Mac to see and reply to all the text messages that you receive on your phone. Google Messages web app is surprisingly good and works flawlessly to deliver and receive text messages from all your contacts, regardless of whether they use an Android phone or an iPhone.
I wish I could use the official Google Messages app on Mac as I do for my other messaging applications like Telegram, WhatsApp, and more. But since there's no official Google Messages app on Mac, I had to use a third-party app called Fluid to create a desktop app for Google Messages.
Fluid is a great and reliable app that lets you turn any website into a desktop app that you can launch like other Mac apps. It even imports the website's Favicon as the app icon, which is pretty neat. You can set up Google Messages via Fluid in just a couple of minutes, and it's been working fine for me. It's also available to use for free, and you can create as many Fluid apps as you like.
There's no official way to use iMessage on an Android phone and I doubt it'll be here anytime soon. But if you're willing to look past the color of the bubbles, then Google Messages will do just fine, and its web app (via Fluid) works well on Mac. Google Messages is also getting better every day, and I expect the experience to get even better next year with RCS support on iPhones.
Continuity and file sharing
The Handoff alternative... kinda
Handoff is one of the tent-pole features on Apple devices that makes Android users feel like they're missing out on something magical. You may not use it all the time, but being able to open and start editing a document on your iPhone and continue the task on, say, your iPad with Handoff is quite convenient. A workaround for this is relying on other cloud storage platforms to sync your documents and photos across different devices.
I have all my important documents and files tied to a Google account, meaning I can access them on pretty much any device, including my MacBook and an Android phone. They all get synced via the cloud, so I can access the most recently updated copy seamlessly on any device. You can get the same results with Microsoft Office apps, too, since they also sync between devices via the cloud. You can even get dedicated apps for them on Mac, so it makes it very easy to get things done on my phone and then continue them on my MacBook.
I also heavily rely on Google Photos to access and transfer the images captured on my Pixel to my MacBook. You can access Google Photos on a Mac computer either via the web or by creating a desktop app for it via Fluid, and it works very well either way. Similarly, I also rely on Google Drive to transfer files between my Pixel 7 and the MacBook Air. Sure, you can always move files between Macs and Android phones using a physical connection, but I like syncing them over the cloud to save some additional time and effort. It may not be as seamless as importing them over AirDrop, but you can achieve the same with Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive with a couple of extra clicks provided you have an internet connection.
Clipboard sharing
Seamlessly share it with Clipit
Similar to Handoff, Apple also lets you share the clipboard across its devices as long as they're connected to the same network. It works flawlessly, and you don't have to download any additional applications on any of your Apple devices. You can achieve something similar while working with an Android phone and a Mac, but you'll have to download an app called Clipt on both devices.
Clipt is a simple workaround that'll let you access a shared clipboard on both Android and macOS. All you have to do is download the app and log in with the same Google account on both. Once done, you can start copying items on either your phone or your Mac, and access them across devices. You will, however, have to tap an extra button on both your phone and your Mac to get stuff to show up on other devices.
On my Pixel 7, I have enabled a quick settings tile that I tap to send something that I copied to my clipboard. Similarly, on Mac, I usually have Clipit running in the background in Stage Manager, which I can easily access to send my clipboard items to my Android phone. This may not be the most seamless workaround, but it works well for my day-to-day usage.
Closing thoughts
You are bound to miss out on some exclusive Apple-only features if you're not using an iPhone and a MacBook together. For instance, you can't use an Apple Watch or your phone to unlock your MacBook. Similarly, you can't share Wi-Fi networks across Android and macOS. These probably aren't the things you use and miss every day, but it takes you by surprise when things just...work! It's similar to how my colleague Ben Sin was surprised when he went to an old coffee shop that he hadn't visited in years, but his new iPhone 14 Pro Max automatically connected to the Wi-Fi as it was saved from his previous visit. You can read more about it in his iPhone 14 Pro Max review — it's great!
That being said, it is entirely possible to make an Android phone and a Mac work together in 2023. Yes, a lot of things won't work as seamlessly as you want them, but it's easier and a lot better than you think. I am constantly on the lookout for more apps and services to try and make my experience seamless. So if you have any suggestions or ideas, then drop them in the comments below!