Android 17’s ‘Continue On’ will let you move tasks between devices, like Apple’s Handoff

Ben Schoon | May 19 2026 - 4:35 pm PT

Google is setting the stage for Android’s version of Apple Handoff, with the new “Continue On” feature in Android 17 set to let you move tasks seamlessly between Android devices.

Revealed during the “What’s new in Android” talk at Google I/O 2026 and further detailed on a developer page, “Continue On” is a part of Android 17 that’s all about the ability to move back and forth on your Android devices without ending the task you’re working on.

As Google explains:

Continue On enables users to start an Android app on one Android device and then transition to another device in their Android ecosystem, continuing the user journey they started.

The feature will let activities from your Android device show up on other devices connected to the same accounts.

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Google says this is designed to work bidirectionally, but will “initially” only work between Android phones and tablets. An activity from your phone will appear on your tablet in the dock, with one example being the ability to open the same document in Google Docs from your tablet using the “handoff” suggestion that appears in the tablet’s dock.

Another example shows the ability to do this with a web browser, with an email in Gmail handing off to Chrome on a tablet, opening directly to that same email.

While limited at launch, the concept here looks pretty similar to Apple’s Handoff that lets iPhone owners pass tasks to iPad or Mac, which was announced in 2014.

Google says this will be available in Android 17 “RC1,” presumably referring to a release candidate. Android 17’s last planned beta release happened nearly a month ago, but a “.1” update wouldn’t be unprecedented.