Google is reportedly working on a new smartphone feature allowing users to connect multiple Android devices to a single Google Account.
The tech, known as “Link Your Devices”, was initially spotted by notable industry insider Nail Sadykov who posted his findings on his Google News channel on Telegram. According to an image provided by another insider Mishaal Rahman, the tool will be housed in the Settings menu – more specifically the “Devices & Sharing” section. No one knows the full extent of what Link Your Devices will do at launch, but we know it can do Call Switching. As the name suggests, the tool will let you “switch between devices for calls”. So you can begin a phone call on one Android device, put it down, then pick up another and continue your conservation there.
You may soon be able to “link your [Android] devices” signed into the same Google account together. This will enable “call switching”, which lets you switch between devices for calls, as well as “Internet sharing”!H/T @Nail_Sadykov pic.twitter.com/WCunYNE9GQAugust 10, 2023
Speculation
Well, that’s the idea. Right now, it’s all just guesswork. Rahman himself believes Link Your Devices could be using the Telecom Jetpack library, a “cross-device SDK (software development kit)” first previewed during Google I/O 2023.
Without getting overly technical, Telecom Jetpack is said to allow “multi-device sessions over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and ultra-wideband” among other things. The example given at the event would be to imagine playing call audio on a smartphone and then transferring the output to a Pixel Tablet.
We should mention Android Authority speculates in their report there could be an Internet Sharing tool at some point under Link Your Devices. This would be an easy-to-use “mechanism” for setting up a personal hotspot for other connected phones.
Edge over the competition
It’s unknown when Link Your Devices will be released. As 9to5Google points out, the feature hasn’t made a single appearance in any of the “past Android 14 releases.” It could be something that comes with the launch of Android 14 or be a future drop exclusive to Pixel phones.
If any of this sounds familiar to you, that’s because Link Your Devices is similar to iPhone Cellular Calls on iOS. The feature lets people receive phone calls on either a Mac or iPad assuming the hardware is “on the same network as your iPhone.” However, unlike what’s expected of Link Your Devices, iPhones cannot directly transfer calls to or receive them from another iPhone.
This could be the edge Google needs to court over iOS users to Android. At the very least, it could be more effective than the recent set of online commercials the tech giant has recently rolled out.
However, if the ads were effective on you, be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best Android phones for 2023 for some recommendations.