KDE Connect
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 3 phone companion apps
Free app that links Android phones with Windows, Linux and macOS, sharing clipboard, files and notifications. Common caveat: iOS support is limited and connections often drop.
Free app that links Android phones with Windows, Linux and macOS, sharing clipboard, files and notifications. Common caveat: iOS support is limited and connections often drop.
86 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 73
- criticize it
- 13
- approval share
- 85%
Recommended in 12 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 73 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 12 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Clipboard and file sharing
“kdeconnect synchronizing clipboard between phone and laptop, that will also stay up independent of your home router.”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “2026 is the Year of Self-hosting” “allowing you to share all kinds of things, including contacts or clipboard contents, between connected devices”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop” “KDEconnect over a VPN works extremely well for clipboard and file and notification sharing.”
Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “Apple patches decade-old iOS zero-day, possibly exploited by commercial spyware” - Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “KDE at 30”
- Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “Apple Business”
- Comment from 17 Feb 2026 in “GrapheneOS – Break Free from Google and Apple”
- Comment from 23 Nov 2025 in “Are consumers just tech debt to Microsoft?”
Phone notifications and texts on desktop
“it does everything on Android at least - clipboard sync, notifications, sms, calls, remote control and media playback control”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “Tether: iMessage, SMS, etc. on Linux” “sending SMS on desktop from phone, pausing phone podcast from desktop, sharing files from XR headset to desktop”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop” “one feature in KDE Connect that is super useful is being able to forward your notifications”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Android developer verification: Early access starts” - Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “How To Build A Smartwatch: Software”
- Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Android developer verification: Early access starts”
Works across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
“It's embarrassing how much better kdeconnect is on windows than the official microsoft offering.”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “KDE at 30” “KDE Connect makes this work between all combinations Windows/macOS/Linux and iOS/Android”
Comment from 22 Nov 2025 in “Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10” “I use KDE Connect to send my clipboard around between iOS, Windows, Android, and Linux.”
Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “Apple Business” - Comment from 16 Jul 2026 in “P2P local file transfer based on WebRTC”
- Comment from 12 Mar 2026 in “MacBook Neo”
- Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10”
Seamless, reliable, outperforms Apple Continuity
“KDE Connect is such a seamless experience of integrating your phone with your computer out of the box”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop” “makes Apple's Continuity look like a toy and that also lets me programmatically filter notifications”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Android developer verification: Early access starts” “KDE Connect is more reliable than Continuity Clipboard, in my experience.”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “iOS allows alternative browser engines in Japan” - Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Limited iOS support
“Yes, and it's great. But you can't iMessage / SMS or get Notifications with iPhone.”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “Tether: iMessage, SMS, etc. on Linux” “KDEConnect is great, but it's a little awkward to use with iOS”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 on Hacker News “KDE Connect with iOS, while useful, is terrible”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “iOS allows alternative browser engines in Japan” Breaks randomly, drops connections
“find it randomly breaks every month or so and for the life of me cannot figure out why”
Comment from 28 Apr 2026 in “Localsend: An open-source cross-platform alternative to AirDrop” “KDEConnect often temporarily loses sight of my phone, yet it still reports being connected to WiFi.”
Comment from 19 Jan 2026 in “A decentralized peer-to-peer messaging application that operates over Bluetooth” “then something somewhere broke (now it's unable to pair)”
Comment from 16 Jul 2026 in “P2P local file transfer based on WebRTC” Hard to set up or pair
“after almost a whole day of googling around and trying to compile and solve whatever missing libraries or drivers, it never connected”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “Tether: iMessage, SMS, etc. on Linux” “then something somewhere broke (now it's unable to pair)”
Comment from 16 Jul 2026 in “P2P local file transfer based on WebRTC” “I can't get KDE connect to work for the life of me.”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “Tether: iMessage, SMS, etc. on Linux” - Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “The HSBC app refuses to work if "Bitwarden" is installed on user's Android phone”
Unreliable in background, can't stay active
“Notification mirroring doesn't work, you can't read/respond to text messages, it can't reliably run in the background.”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “F-Droid: "Keep Android Open"” “KDE Connect cannot remain active while the application is not in the foreground.”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “iOS allows alternative browser engines in Japan”
Other phone companion apps people recommend
The two most recommended other phone companion apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KDE ConnectThis page | 73 | 13 | 85% | 12 | — | Approved |
| scrcpy | 25 | 2 | 93% | 4 | — | Approved |
| Microsoft Phone Link | 5 | 1 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 100 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Every feature separately optional to enable, and only between explicitly paired devices”
“KDE Connect is such a seamless experience of integrating your phone with your computer out of the box”
“allowing you to share all kinds of things, including contacts or clipboard contents, between connected devices”
“sending SMS on desktop from phone, pausing phone podcast from desktop, sharing files from XR headset to desktop”
“KDEConnect is great, but it's a little awkward to use with iOS”
“My absolute favorite feature in KDE Connection is full audio device output / input control remotely”
“I can't get KDE connect to work for the life of me.”
“Yes, and it's great. But you can't iMessage / SMS or get Notifications with iPhone.”
“it does everything on Android at least - clipboard sync, notifications, sms, calls, remote control and media playback control”
“after almost a whole day of googling around and trying to compile and solve whatever missing libraries or drivers, it never connected”
“then something somewhere broke (now it's unable to pair)”
“Solution I've been using for a while is KDE Connect. Works on windows, linux, android”
“you can also use your smartphone as touchpad to control the cursor or to act as remote keyboard”
“add KDE Connect to the mix (install on every machine), and everything becomes so easy.”
“KDE-connect is my preferred cross-platform local clipboard/file/whatever sharing program”
“It's embarrassing how much better kdeconnect is on windows than the official microsoft offering.”
“KDE Connect works pretty great for sending files, though you do have to be on the same network.”
“find it randomly breaks every month or so and for the life of me cannot figure out why”
“I use KDE Connect to send my clipboard around between iOS, Windows, Android, and Linux.”
“And I can share between my android, iOS, and linux devices with KDE Connect”
“Things like KDE Connect provide a direct bridge and a bit of imagination does the rest.”
“Notification mirroring doesn't work, you can't read/respond to text messages, it can't reliably run in the background.”
“I switched back to Android in large part for KDE Connect. You can get continuity esque features that work with any desktop operating system.”
“desktop sync tool; allows file/clipboard/keyboard/audio/etc. sharing”
“KDEconnect over a VPN works extremely well for clipboard and file and notification sharing.”
“KDEConnect often temporarily loses sight of my phone, yet it still reports being connected to WiFi.”
“kdeconnect synchronizing clipboard between phone and laptop, that will also stay up independent of your home router.”
“KDE Connect cannot remain active while the application is not in the foreground.”
“KDE Connect with iOS, while useful, is terrible”
“KDE Connect is more reliable than Continuity Clipboard, in my experience.”
“KDE connect over Bluetooth or WiFi seems ideal for this, so it's definitely possible.”
“mine doesn't work because of kde connect”
“felt great for basic copy/pasting/file transfer between devices”
“KDE Connect makes this work between all combinations Windows/macOS/Linux and iOS/Android”
“It's just super convenient and it's FOSS + cross platform too.”
“KDE Connect handles that and a ton more very seamlessly imo”
“forwarding your laptop notifications to a phone via KDE Connect or something like that”
“one feature in KDE Connect that is super useful is being able to forward your notifications”
“makes Apple's Continuity look like a toy and that also lets me programmatically filter notifications”
“I use KDE Connect to display notifications on my laptop, for example.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.