Google has recently announced the rollout of its first set of Cross-device services, featuring Call Casting and Instant Hotspot. These innovative features are now becoming available to Android users, offering new ways to stay connected across multiple devices seamlessly.
Setting Up Cross-Device Services
Once these features become available on your device, you can easily set them up by navigating to: Settings > Google > Devices & sharing > Cross-device services. The setup process involves creating a “device group” by enabling these preferences on all your signed-in devices.
Call Casting: Moving Calls Across Devices
Call Casting is a feature that allows you to move calls between your Android phone, tablet, or desktop browser. This feature is particularly useful if you start a call on one device and need to switch to another. For example, you can begin a video call on your phone and then move it to your tablet for a larger screen experience.
Currently, Call Casting is supported on Google Meet, and you can identify the option with the familiar Cast icon. It’s important to note that Call Casting is available only for certain apps, and some data about your devices may be shared with these apps when you switch devices. Google ensures that when Call Casting is turned on, your other devices can cast video calls to the device you are using.
Instant Hotspot: Seamless Internet Sharing
Internet sharing is another exciting feature under Cross-device services. The Instant Hotspot feature allows you to automatically share hotspot access with your other devices. This can be extremely handy when you’re out and about and need to provide internet access to your Chromebook or another Android device.
To use Instant Hotspot, both Bluetooth and device location need to be turned on. It’s important to mention that this feature is not available on Samsung devices. However, Samsung users can use the auto-hotspot feature as an alternative. A simple toggle in the settings allows you to turn Instant Hotspot on or off as needed.
Device Groups and Beta Availability
Google will display your Device groups on the main Cross-device services page, making it easy to manage and see which devices are connected. Currently, these Cross-device services are seen on Android devices running version 24.28.34 of Google Play services, which is still in beta. The features are available for Android 11 and higher versions on phones and tablets.
Google promises that Android users will receive new cross-device features as soon as they are released. This means that users can look forward to regular updates and enhancements to their cross-device experience.
With these new features, Google continues to enhance the connectivity and convenience of its Android ecosystem. Call Casting and Instant Hotspot are just the beginning, and users can expect more innovative features in the future that will make managing multiple devices even easier.
