Google has rolled out cross-device instant hotspot and call transfers to Android, but they have to be manually enabled. Here’s how you do it.
It’s taken a long time, but Google has finally figured out how to make your Android phones and tablets talk to each other and collaborate together, just like Apple and Samsung devices do. The feature, which is called cross-device services, has been leaked for ages, officially announced in May, and only started working for me in the past couple of days.
There are currently two aspects to this cross-device integration: hotspot and calls. The idea is that, as long as your two phones are logged into the same Google account, they are part of the same group and can share an instant hotspot or a video call when they’re near each other — no setup or passwords required. And unlike Apple’s or Samsung’s solutions, you don’t need to have devices from one specific brand; this should work across all Android phones, regardless of brand (though we know the instant hotspot won’t work with Samsung devices, sadly).
In my experience, Google’s Android-wide cross-device implementation happens instantly and seamlessly. I can’t believe it’s taken this long, but I’m happy this is now working!Why this cross-device integration matters
If you’re out and about and have a data connection on your phone, but you’re carrying a Wi-Fi-only Android tablet (or another Android phone), you have to grab the main phone, turn on the hotspot, then move to the tablet, and use the internet. The first time you do that, you also have to manually pick the hotspot network on your tablet and enter the password before connecting. It’s not that tedious, but it’s also not that seamless, is it? At least not when these smartphones are supposed to be smart enough and share this info behind the scenes. Then, when you’re done, you have to manually turn it all off to avoid draining your batteries all around.
Another roadblock is when you’re in a video call on your phone and want to move to a different, and perhaps larger, display like a tablet. You have to disconnect from the call and then rejoin it, or simply end the call and restart it on the other device. That’s not smart or intuitive, either.
Cross-device integration fixes these roadblocks, letting your phones and tablets communicate with each other in the background when they’re nearby. You can cast a video call to another device or initiate a hotspot and connect to it from your secondary phone or tablet without ever touching or unlocking the main one. Neat, right?How to turn on cross-device services
To enable cross-device services, you need to do this on all of your Android devices to make sure they can all benefit from this new integration (check the screenshots for the step-by-step instructions).
