(Credit: Google)
At its I/O event on Tuesday, Google introduced a new Android 17 feature that lets users start a task on one device and continue it on another. In other words, it's the Android version of Apple’s Handoff, which was introduced with iOS 8 in 2014.
Google is calling its version “Continue On," which is currently available on the Android 17 beta. At launch, the feature will only support mobile-to-tablet device transitions, though it is designed to work bidirectionally, Google says.
(Credit: Google)The company hasn’t specified which apps will support the feature, but it has invited developers to integrate it into their apps. Google shared video examples showing how Continue On will work in Google Docs and Google Chrome. Once a user initiates an activity in Chrome on their Android phone, they’ll see a “Handoff Suggestion” to continue the same activity on their Android tablet if they switch devices.
Google says Android 17 supports both app-to-app and app-to-web handoffs. Developers can choose their preferred task management platform on each device. For example, the Continue On feature can hand off a task from the Gmail app on a phone to the Gmail web experience on a tablet.
The stable version of Android 17 is expected this summer.