Phone Hub for Chrome OS is Now Available for Testing
- Paul Thurrott
- Feb 14, 2021
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Last summer, we learned that Google was working on a Your Phone-like app for Chrome OS called Phone Hub. Now it’s ready for public testing.
According to recent reports—like this one in Android Police—the new Phone Hub feature can now be tested in Chrome OS 89 (Dev) and 90 (Canary), and it’s got a much cleaner and more polished UI than it did in its initial leaked appearance last August.
Unlike with Windows 10’s Your Phone, which is implemented as an app, the Phone Hub feature provides a more integrated experience, with a fly-out window, similar to that provided by notifications in Chrome OS. But the basics are very similar to Your Phone in that it lets you access phone features from your Chromebook. You can view the open Chrome tabs on your phone, get and respond to notifications, and toggle your phone’s hotspot.
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What’s missing, of course, is phone calling and copy and paste between the two devices, two features that Microsoft’s Your Phone does provide in Windows 10. (Chrome OS already supports Messages integration with Android.)
Still, it’s a smart move, given that Apple already offers tremendous integration between iPhones and Macs in its own ecosystem. And while Your Phone is buggy and unreliable, the sheer amount of integration functionality is still impressive.