Google’s new Chromebook features make it easier to connect to Android phones

Google has been engaged on new Android and Chromebook features that higher bridge the hole between phones and laptops over the previous yr. Today, ChromeOS model 103 arrives with some features to enhance how Chromebooks connect to Android phones.

The Phone Hub function of ChromeOS, introduced final yr, is getting a new current pictures addition. With the 103 ChromeOS replace, you’ll have the ability to rapidly entry the most recent pictures you’ve taken in your cellphone contained in the Phone Hub. It’s a simple method to keep away from emailing your self a photograph or having to dig into Google Photos to discover your current pictures. It even works if you happen to’re offline.

Image: Google

Google can be enhancing its Nearby Share function to connect a Chromebook to any saved Wi-Fi community on an Android cellphone. This will make it easier if a pal or member of the family has a Chromebook and wishes to connect to your Wi-Fi, and it matches the neat integration Apple has between iOS units and Mac to simply share Wi-Fi passwords.

In truth, Google’s new ChromeOS additions this week are a part of a broader effort to match Apple’s ecosystem integrations and Microsoft’s Phone Link work. Google calls its initiative “Better Together,” and all through 2022, it might be rolling out software program features that enhance how Android, Chromebook, and Bluetooth-connected units all work collectively.

Google is engaged on a system in order that any messaging app in your cellphone might be mirrored on a Chromebook, permitting direct entry to third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram on a Chromebook.

Image: Google

Google’s “Fast Pair” framework may even make pairing Bluetooth headphones easier this summer season. Chromebooks will robotically detect when a new pair of Bluetooth headphones are close by, and a pop-up notification will make it simple to pair. It’s related to the easy pairing available in Windows or with AirPods on a Mac.

Google says that extra “Better Together” features might be out there later this yr and that it will “share more exciting Chromebook announcements this summer.”