One of the perks of Android is the ability to choose your own device: If you don’t like Google’s Pixel phones, you can try something from Samsung, OnePlus, Nokia, whatever speaks to you. The downside to that freedom, however, is it limits how these various Android devices can work together: If you have a Samsung phone and a Google tablet, those two Android devices work great on their own, but you wouldn’t have the same cross-device functionality you’d expect from a closed-platform like Apple’s.
That’s where Google’s “cross-device services” come into play. With this initiative, Google is aiming to give compatible Android devices from different manufacturers the ability to share data and features between one another. Just as you can transfer a FaceTime call from your iPhone to your Mac, you’ll be able to start a video call on your Galaxy phone, and pick it up from your Pixel tablet; if you want to automatically connect your tablet to your phone’s hotspot, you can.
These first two features—call casting and internet sharing—are rolling out now. Call casting, according to Google, works within certain apps to move calls between devices, while internet sharing works with both Chromebooks and Android devices.
However, this initial rollout is still limited: While call casting appears to work across devices from different manufacturers, internet casting does not work with Samsung devices. Google doesn’t say why, but if you have a Samsung device and a Pixel device, you need to use the auto-hotspot feature instead.
How to enable cross-device services on Android
To start, all devices you want to use these services for need to be logged into the same Google Account. Make sure that’s the case before proceeding. Those devices also need to be running Android 11, and Bluetooth needs to be enabled.
Next, go to Settings > Google > Devices & sharing > Cross-device services on each device you want to set up. On the “Set up cross-device services” screen, hit Next. From here, you’ll set up your “device group” for cross-device services. This page will show you all eligible Android devices you have under this Google Account, which can be individually added to the group to work with these services. Tap OK, and Android will add the current device to the group.
From here, you can control cross-device services settings, including toggles for enabling or disabling call casting, internet sharing, and cross-device services as a whole. When Google rolls out new cross-device services in the future, they’ll appear here.
