My Mac and Windows laptops are united at last — thanks to this open-source app

If you're like me, you might have a computer with one operating system for your personal tasks and another with a different OS for your job. I decided not to make it hard on myself and wanted to learn both macOS and Windows many years ago. I never wanted to feel stuck in one OS forever and wanted the ability to handle tasks in both, should I ever need to. It's why I like knowing what's going on with Windows and Mac computers.

However, one frustrating aspect to me when using two is that, while I like using both, I still have to go through extra steps if I want them to communicate with each other. If I'm writing a story about Windows, I sometimes want to transfer a file from one laptop to the other. Unless I use a USB drive or send it via email, it's not always the easiest thing to do.

However, with KDE Connect, I can connect my Mac and Windows laptops to make them collaborate.

KDE Connect can connect multiple devices

It works great for some but not for all

KDE Connect is an open-source app that aims to let people connect devices, such as phones and laptops. It differs from protocols used by smart home devices, such as Matter and Thread. This aims to sync up devices on the same wireless network or Ethernet to help them coexist. Mostly, it's different from those because it works with non-smart home devices, such as your phone and computer. From what I've read, it works really well with Android phones connecting to Windows or Linux computers.

Unfortunately, I don't have an Android phone, which seems to make the easiest connections with other devices when using KDE Connect. Instead, I have an iPhone 13 to accompany my computers.

I easily downloaded KDE Connect through Apple's App Store. However, I was unable to connect my Windows laptop to my iPhone through the app. I downloaded the software through Windows and opened up the app on the HP. The instructions say to click the Refresh devices menu on the left side of the app. Any devices that are on the same Wi-Fi as your device that also have KDE Connect open should populate, but I was never able to get the two to connect.

I did, however, get my Windows laptop and MacBook Pro to sync up.

What I could do with the connection

I can see why people will want to use this

One of the options in the app is to Send Clipboard. This means that anything you copy on one computer can be pasted onto another computer. I wasn't sure exactly how this would work, as I wasn't sure whether it would just paste the most recent thing you've copied or actually paste your entire clipboard. Luckily, I was pleased that it was just the last thing that you'd copied. I worked this out by copying some lines from a story on MakeUseOf on the MacBook Pro. I then went to the app and clicked on Send Clipboard.

I switched over to the Windows laptop and opened up an email. When I pressed Ctrl + V, the text I had copied on the MacBook Pro populated. Another thing that I found fun about the two devices was controlling the volume of one with the other. Since the app primarily works on Windows, I opened the Volume Control function on my HP. By doing that, a slider appears. When I slid it up and down, the volume on the MacBook Pro would change.

Another one that seems worthwhile is using one device as a presentation remote for another. I can see someone needing to give a presentation and needing to leave their computer up on a podium to show a PowerPoint slideshow. From the other laptop, you can click the forward or backward arrow and watch the other presentation move to the next or previous slide. Run Commands is another option, which lets you type in a command and execute it on the other computer.

What I couldn't do with the connection

I can see why it's been frustrating for owners

The Windows app opens up nicely with a bare-bones interface with some simple options. I never did get the app itself to open on Mac because there's only a nightly version available. I had to download the software based on the type of processor my computer has. Once I did, the MacBook Pro appeared on my Windows software's devices list, and pairing was simple. From there, I was able to do things across the two computers and make their collaboration seamless.

Because Macs have more restrictions, the only thing I wanted to do was not possible. A small icon was populated in the top menu bar, and I was able to click that and do the commands of KDE Connect, at least in theory. I was trying to send files back and forth between the computers.

One of my absolute favorite things about using an iPhone and a MacBook is being able to AirDrop files from one device to the other. I was hoping that using KDE Connect would be similar between two devices, not from the same operating system. Alas, I didn't find it that way, as any time I pressed Send File in the Windows app, nothing was actually ever sent to the MacBook. I tried multiple times with many files, and nothing came over. This was frustrating because, for me, this would have been the best way to use the laptops and the app. But I was able to find other ways to make the connection useful.

If I had different devices, this might be my favorite app

For me, the connection of an iPhone to other devices through KDE Connect didn't work. But being able to connect my MacBook Pro and HP computers was a unique feature of using the app. The connection was simple to set up, and the functionality is pretty good. I was surprised by how basic the app is on Windows, but I think it doesn't need to be flashy to be successful. I liked being able to control the value and presentation remotely from another device.

I wish I could have run the app more prominently on my MacBook and access files by sending them from one computer to another or from my iPhone. For those who have Linux or Android devices, this could be a smart addition to your workflow. It offers plenty of capabilities and does them quickly and efficiently.