Google announced a coordinated effort with partners across multiple industries to let users pick devices that fit their preferences, brand agnostic, while ensuring seamless connectivity. On stage at CES, the company unveiled a slate of innovations designed to enhance how people use phones, laptops, Bluetooth accessories, TVs, home automation gear, and cars.
The new way to share files
Sharing images, files, and text across devices should be fast, simple, and reliable. A feature introduced earlier, Share with Nearby, aimed to simplify transfers. Samsung has its own solution called Quick Share. In a joint approach, Google and Samsung created a cross‑Android experience that preserves the Quick Share branding. This compatibility spans Android devices with Google Mobile Services and Android 6.0 or newer, Chromebooks with Chrome OS 91 or newer, and Windows PCs with version 91 or newer. It combines the best of both ecosystems and unifies user experiences under a single default option for transfers between people and devices across Android, Chromebooks, and Windows. In collaboration with hardware partners like LG, Google is working to ship Quick Share as a pre‑installed app on Windows PCs to further simplify cross‑device file sharing.
Quick Share will be available on devices sporting Nearby Share functionality in the near term to streamline transfers across platforms.
Quick Pair is now compatible with TV
When new headphones are purchased, immediate pairing is a top priority, and Quick Pair offers a fast way to detect nearby Bluetooth devices and connect them to gadgets such as Android phones or Chromebooks.
Beginning next February, Quick Pair support will extend to Chromecast devices with Google TV and will expand to additional Google TV devices throughout the year.
Send videos to more apps and devices
Since Chromecast launched, streaming features have broadened to more apps and devices. Users will be able to send TikTok videos from their phones to nearby Chromecast-enabled displays, and soon live TikTok streams can be cast to TVs as well.
New devices with built‑in Chromecast, including the 2024 LG TV lineup, will hit the market soon. This enables people to continue watching shows or movies from apps in hotel rooms or away from home without logging into every service individually.
Google TV devices arriving on shelves already include Chromecast built in. Examples include the Hisense ULED and ULED Series X TVs for 2024, and the TCL Q Class and QM7 announced at CES. In addition, more than 220 million devices running Google TV or Android TV are actively in use each month.
A new playback feature is planned to let audio from Spotify or YouTube Music be sent from a Pixel phone to a nearby Pixel Tablet when both devices are nearby.
Interoperability between devices with Matter
The smart home device landscape includes a growing mix of products from different manufacturers. To simplify setup and control, industry standards for interoperability are being adopted. Google has announced tools to broaden Matter adoption, making it easier for homes to connect diverse devices. Soon, LG televisions and other Google TV and Android TV products will act as Google Home hubs. A Nest Hub, Nest Mini, or compatible TV can then manage Matter devices locally through the Google Home app and keep everything coordinated.
Google in the car
Google has highlighted improvements to Android Auto utilities. In the coming months, some compatible electric vehicles will share real‑time battery status information with Google Maps. Early examples include certain Ford models, with more brands to follow. This integration helps drivers see estimated battery levels, receive charging stop suggestions, and get charging time estimates tailored to their vehicle.
The experience will expand to additional brands, with a new feature enabling routes to be sent directly from Google Maps on a phone to a vehicle’s display. This car‑to‑phone route transfer is launching now.