Android Is Finally Getting Its Own Version of Apple's 'Handoff'

Love it or hate it, the Apple ecosystem has its perks. Take "Handoff," for example: If you have at least two connected devices, such as an iPhone and a Mac, you can start a task on one and carry it over to the other. You can start reading an article in Safari on your iPhone, then pick it up when you get to your Mac. Or, say you're on a FaceTime call on your Mac, but you have to run; you can simply switch to your iPhone to keep the conversation going, without having to call them back. It isn't perfect, but it works, it works.

Android doesn't quite have the same setup. While some functions work across devices, like transferring calls, users with an Android phone often don't have the ability to open the same task on their tablet, and vice versa. If you're reviewing a spreadsheet in Google Sheets on your phone, you can't just pick it up on your tablet for a larger view; you instead need to open Sheets on your tablet, then find your way to the document in question. The same goes for many other Google apps, like Chrome, Gmail, Drive, and Docs: Android could really benefit from a dedicated cross-platform option. Luckily, it's on the way, in the form of a new feature called "Continue On."

How "Continue On" works on Android

Google announced "Continue On" during its "What's new in Android" discussion on Tuesday. As reported by 9to5Google, this is a new feature as of Android 17, and will be available in Android 17 RC1. If you've ever used Handoff in the Apple ecosystem, you'll understand the core idea behind Continue On: When you open an app on one of your Android devices, you'll notice the app appear on your other device, with a "Handoff Suggestion label" hovering above it.

Credit: Google

Say you're working on a Google Doc on your Pixel phone. When you open your Pixel tablet, you'll notice the Google Docs icon populate in the doc, with a special label—even if you already have Google Docs in your dock. If you tap the standard Google Docs icon, you'll open the app as per usual; if you tap the Handoff Suggestion, you'll open the Google Doc you're working on on your phone. In another example, you might be reading through a Gmail thread on your phone, but prefer to finish catching up on your tablet. In this case, the Handoff Suggestion would be Chrome: Tap it on your tablet, and you'll pull up the thread in Gmail on the bigger screen.

Google appears to be taking its time with implementing Continue On. While the feature will work "bidirectionally" in the future, at launch, it only works from phone to tablet. That means you won't be able to hand off a Google Doc from your tablet to your phone, only from your phone to your tablet. Additionally, Google says it's up to developers to decide how they want this experience to run with their own apps. They can open the same app across both devices (Google Docs to Google Docs), or open the web app from the mobile app (Gmail mobile app to Gmail web app in Chrome). Developers can also opt for a mix of both: While the default can be app-to-app, developers can choose to fall back to the web app if the user doesn't have the app installed on their tablet.

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