Last year at CES 2022, Google announced is to abling you to access any chat app on your Android phone using a Chromebook. The feature is about to launch Google today rolled out “Cross-Device Services” to the Play Store. Described today is much wider than the initial January 2022 messaging announcement, with every app on your phone seemingly accessible.
This saves time and allows you to focus when you are already on your Chromebook without having to switch devices.
The official screenshots show the ChromeOS Phone Hub will feature a “Recent apps” section with a row of icons and a link to an “All apps” list. You’ll be able to browse through “Apps from your phone” and then launch them.
With the app appearing in a floating window that specifies what device it is from, Google Calendar is used to demo the streaming capabilities.
As per the source, Google Pixel phones already have an installed stub for Cross-Device Services. Updating — a sizable 58MB download — takes you from version 1.0 to 1.0.285.1. The update is there on Pixel phones, but it’s installable on other Android devices. Maybe Android 13 is required.
Additionally, Google has slowly been rolling out the Better Together announcements made at CES 2022, including Fast Pair on Chromebooks and Nearby Share for Windows. At the moment, app streaming is not yet live on Chromebooks. The search giant, with the Cross-Device Services app/update, is just laying the groundwork.