Google will launch the Continue On function in Android 17, similar to Apple’s Handoff. (Picture/Drawing by this newspaper)
Google is creating a cross-device experience for Android 17 similar to Apple’s Handoff. The newly launched “Continue On” function allows users to seamlessly continue operations between different Android devices without having to re-open the app or retrieval of previous progress.
Initially, Continue On only supports “mobile phone to tablet”. That is to say, when the user opens an app on an Android phone and picks up the tablet, the system will directly recommend the app in the tablet taskbar, and one click can return to the original use state. The future goal is to support “two-way connections”.
Google, for example, if a user first edits a document in Google Docs on a mobile phone, then after switching to a tablet, the same document can be opened directly, even retaining the original paging and editing progress. Another example is Gmail. If you first check the mail on the mobile app and then switch to the tablet, you can also directly open the same mail content through the Gmail web version.
It is worth noting that Google has also designed different connection methods for Continue On. Some apps can be directly switched to the native app on another device; some will continue the operation in the form of a web page. In addition, Google has also added a backup mechanism. If the corresponding app is not installed on the second device, Continue On can still open the relevant content through the browser.
Although the current functionality is still somewhat limited, the overall concept is actually quite close to Handoff, launched by Apple as early as 2014, which allows seamless switching between iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Google said that “Continue On” will be launched first in the Android 17 RC version. The so-called RC (Release Candidate) refers to the test version close to the official version. Outsiders also believe that Google recently announced that it is cooperating with major brands to promote Googlebook laptops equipped with Android systems. Now it has added the Continue On function, which shows that Google is actively building a more complete Android cross-device ecosystem and is expected to further narrow the gap with Apple in device integration experience in the future.
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