Google has opened preorders for its first Googlebooks, a new category of laptops built on Android with desktop features from ChromeOS.
The first models come from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Samsung isn’t among the launch partners, but you won’t need a Samsung laptop to use these features with a Galaxy phone.
Google says Googlebooks are designed to work with Android phones from the very first boot up. During setup, a Googlebook can bring over information from your phone, including saved passwords, Wi-Fi networks, messages, and some settings.
After setup, you can continue tasks on the laptop and access the apps and files on your phone.
Pick up a task you started on your phone
With Continue On, you can start something on your Galaxy phone and resume it from the Googlebook’s taskbar. Google gives the example of starting a project in BandLab on your phone and continuing it on the laptop.
This depends on app support, so don’t expect every open app to appear on your Googlebook. Developers can set up Continue On to open the corresponding Android app or a web version of what you were doing.
Open your phone’s apps in a laptop window
Cast My Apps lets you open and control apps from your Galaxy phone in a window on the Googlebook. The app runs on your phone and streams to the laptop, so you don’t have to install a copy on the latter just to complete a quick task.
Googlebooks can also install Android apps directly from the Play Store. That’s different from Cast My Apps: one runs the app on the laptop, while the other gives you access to the app on your phone.
Access phone files and notifications
Need a photo, document, or screenshot that’s still on your Galaxy phone? Quick Access lets you find and open it through the Googlebook’s Files app without transferring it first.
Google’s system services release notes also say you can view and manage phone notifications on a Googlebook, which is to be expected from an Android-based operating system.
You will need One UI 9 (Android 17) or newer
There is an important requirement for all of these Googlebook features: they need a smartphone running Android 17 or newer. That means your Galaxy phone will have to be on One UI 9 or later.
Samsung will have its own take on this eventually. As SamMobile exclusively reported, the company is developing Android-based Galaxy Book laptops with One UI.
Samsung will likely add features from its own software suite alongside Google’s phone-to-laptop tools, though it hasn’t revealed those laptops or confirmed what extras they’ll offer as of September 22.
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