Android

Android may soon be able to transfer video calls and more between devices with ‘Device Groups’

Ben Schoon | Oct 3 2023 - 7:32 am PT

Google has been clearly working over the past few years on making Android devices and accessories work better together, and soon that may get a big boost through “Device Groups,” which would allow Android devices to transfer video calls between devices among other features.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been seeing more of features on Android that benefit from linking your devices together. For instance, a previous look at Google’s cross-device features revealed the ability to move voice calls between devices, as well as starting the internet hotspot on one device from another.

Now, @AssembleDebug is helping to uncover a few more things Google is working on.

In a blog post, it’s shown off that Google is moving away from “Link your devices” as the phrasing for this feature and instead calling it “Device Groups.” That makes a lot of sense, and is certainly a more memorable name. Users would be able to add devices to a group that are linked to their Google account during setup, or invite them later on.

As for what users will actually be able to do with Device Groups, a pop-up ahead of initial setup brings out two use cases. One of those is the ability to transfer an active video call between devices, as Google explains:

See ongoing video calls from other devices and seamlessly move them here.

We don’t actually know what this would look like in action, but it likely works on an app-by-app basis using the cross-device SDK that Google details on Android’s developer site. Presumably Google Meet would be the first to support this, but that’s just a guess.

The other use case the pop-up mentions is the ability to “share internet access when your other devices are offline.” This is likely the same feature that was mentioned previously, just with new phrasing. In any case, it likely just triggers a hotspot on another device in the group.

It’s still largely unclear when Google intends to actually release this functionality, but it seems to be inching closer as time goes on.