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Googlebook "Better Together" phone features don't work with Samsung at launch
Ars Technica • • technology
Key Points:
- Googlebooks, Google's new premium laptops, are designed for tight integration with Android phones but currently only fully support Pixel devices due to software requirements.
- The seamless features like app streaming, file access, notification mirroring, and app continuity require Android 17, which is not yet widely supported across major Android brands.
- Despite Samsung phones shipping with Android 17, Googlebooks' "Better Together" features are not yet compatible, with official support expected in an upcoming update.
- Other manufacturers like Motorola, OnePlus, and Xiaomi have limited or delayed Android 17 rollouts, further restricting Googlebooks' phone integration capabilities outside Pixel devices.
- This limitation highlights Google's reliance on Android 17-exclusive features for Googlebooks, contrasting with their previous efforts to decouple updates from OS versions, and raises concerns about the laptop's appeal beyond Pixel users.
