Google is Improving Android Integration with Chromebooks, More

It’s not just Windows: Google is also working to improve how Android integrates with Chromebooks and other devices.

Yesterday, I wrote about how Google plans to integrate key Android features with Windows sometime this year. But that quietly revealed blockbuster was just a small part of a wider announcement in which Google describes coming improvements to Android integration with Chromebooks and other devices.

On the Chromebook front, Google will soon release two updates that further improve how the two platforms interoperate. First, it will let new Chromebook owners set up their devices using their Android phone and its stored Google account and Wi-Fi password information. And second, it is improving Chrome OS’ Phone Hub feature to include access to Android-based Chat apps and your handset’s camera roll.

Google is also going to extend Android’s ability to unlock a Chromebook to Wear OS-based wearables. That way, you can use a compatible wearable to access a Chromebook, like how Apple Watch and the Mac work today.

The firm is also taking its Fast Pair functionality (for Android and Chrome OS) beyond wearable, headphone, speaker, and car connectivity and extending it to TVs and smart home devices. And because Google has integrated Matter support in Android, users will soon be able to use Fast Pair to quickly connect new Matter-enabled smart home devices to your home network, Google Home, and any compatible apps.

On the multimedia front, Google is enhancing Bluetooth-enabled headphones so that they can automatically switch audio playback to different devices. It is bringing spatial audio support to its ecosystem “in the next few months on supported headphones.” And it is bringing Chromecast to more brands, starting with “all Bose smart speakers and soundbars in the next few months.”