Nothing Phone (2). | Image credit – PhoneArena
The rivalry between Android and iOS just keeps going, with each borrowing ideas from the other. Not long ago, it was Google‘s turn to take a page from Apple‘s playbook with cross-device services – Google’s take on iOS’s Handoff. Now, this feature is expanding to even more devices.Initially launched for Chromebooks and select Android phones, this feature has now been spotted making its way to Nothing OS. Earlier this year, a Google Play Services update extended cross-device services to certain Android phones, and it looks like Nothing devices are now following suit.
When cross-device services become available on your Nothing Phone (1), Nothing Phone (2), or Nothing Phone (2a), you’ll likely get a notification explaining how it all works and where to find more details in the settings. If you want to check manually whether the feature is available, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings
- Select Google
- Tap Device and sharing
- Choose Cross-device services
- Once there, you can connect all supported devices using your Google account.
Nothing Phone (2) shown here gets cross-device services. | Image credit – PhoneArena
Cross-device services kicked off with Google’s Pixel phones and were quickly extended to select Samsung phones. At first, the focus was on something simple: syncing notification dismissals across devices. But that was just the beginning. Google has rolled out even more features, such as casting video calls and sharing internet connections (on Samsung phones, it’s Auto Hotspot).
If you’re all about creating a seamless Android ecosystem, cross-device services are a game-changer. While they’re limited to certain apps and scenarios for now, they’re easily the closest thing Android has to Apple’s Handoff. And it’s awesome to see more brands getting on board – because, let’s be real, most of us juggle more than one gadget these days.
That said, the rollout is understandably slower. Unlike iOS, which is exclusive to Apple, Android is spread across countless brands, so fine-tuning cross-device services for each one takes some time.
In other Android-related news, Android’s Google News app is getting a sleek redesign. Google is cooking up “bundled notifications,” which would smartly group related alerts together. Lastly, Android 16 is all set to brighten up your Instagram photos, even in the lowest light.
