What you need to know
- Cross Device Services were spotted on Nothing phones for the first time following a Google Play Services notification.
- They will help Nothing phones work better together with other Android phones, through features like Call Casting and Internet Sharing.
- When Cross Device Services are available, you can create a group of devices tied to your Google account for easy sharing.
Cross Device Services are Google’s answer to Handoff on iOS, and they’ll now work with more phones. The features, which first debuted on Chromebooks and select Android phones, were spotted arriving on Nothing OS by Android Police. After integrating with certain Android phones earlier this year following a Google Play Services update, Nothing phones seemingly gained support for Cross Device Services in a similar fashion.
When the features are available for your Nothing Phone 1, Nothing Phone 2, or Nothing Phone 2a, you may see a notification pop up explaining how they work and where you can learn more about them in settings. To manually check if Cross Device Services are available on your Nothing phone, navigate to Settings > Google > Device and sharing > Cross-device services. From there, all devices currently supporting Cross Device Services can be connected using your Google account.
On that settings page, you can create a group of Android and ChromeOS devices that’ll work together and will be tied to your Google account. “Devices with the same Google Account can be added to a device group and use cross-device services together,” the page explains. From there, there’s an option to Add this device to the group with a toggle and tap the Invite to send a notification to your other devices.
Nothing phones will be able to take advantage of useful Cross Device Services features like Call Casting and Internet Sharing. Notably, Internet Sharing isn’t available on Samsung phones, so Nothing OS will now have an edge in this area. Considering that Nothing OS — outside of its design flair — is very similar to Pixel Launcher and “stock Android,” it’s not surprising that Cross Device Services are coming to the operating system.
For those looking to build an ecosystem of Android products that work well together, Cross Device Services are must-use features. They’ll only work in certain apps and situations, but they’re Android’s best alternative to Apple’s Handoff suite.