What you need to know
- Google is releasing or expanding a lot of Apple-like features for Android, Chromebook, and PC.
- The company is rolling out Nearby Share, Fast Pair, and watch unlock to more devices.
Google is about to roll out a lot of Apple-like features across Android phones, tablets, Chromebooks, and more.
As reported by 9to5Google (via 9to5Mac), the company announced at CES that it is rolling out the following new or expanded features:
- Nearby Share
- Fast Pair
- Watch unlock
The company has announced that it will expand its "Nearby Share" feature to Windows PCs, allowing Android users to easily and wirelessly share photos, videos, and files from Android phones to PCs.In the audio space, Google has announced that it will bring its Fast Pair feature to Windows PCs, Google TV, Android TV, and Matter-compatible smart home products.Google says that users will soon be able to unlock their Chromebook or other Android using their Wear OS smartwatch.
The Nearby Share feature, which allows users to seamlessly share content between their Android phone and a PC or Chromebook, is very similar to Apple's AirDrop feature that lets users quickly and easily share content between Apple devices.
The Fast Pair feature, which makes it easy to pair headphones to a PC, Chromebook, Google TV, and more, is reminiscent of the pairing experience that AirPods and Beats users currently enjoy when they need to pair their headphones with an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV.
The ability to unlock a Chromebook with a Wear OS watch is, of course, exactly what Apple Watch users currently enjoy with the Mac.
Of course, it's great that these features are coming to or expanding for the Google and Windows community. While there are always the people who say Apple or Android did it first, all of these features are fantastic and it is great to hear that even more people will now get to enjoy them.
