Like all other major tech companies, Google is flexing its muscles at CES 2024. The search engine giant announced a slew of updates at its event on Tuesday, including a new way to share images, files and text between devices. Google is teaming up with Samsung to launch Quick Share, a unified cross-Android file sharing solution that combines Google’s Nearby Share and Samsung’s Quick Share under one brand. The company says it has integrated these services to bring default peer-to-peer content sharing options to Android and Chromebook devices. Additionally, Google is working with manufacturers to make Quick Share a pre-installed app on Windows PCs.
With Quick Share, users can simply click on an icon to view a list of nearby available devices. Of course, just like Apple’s AirDrop feature, Quick Share will allow users to adjust privacy settings to choose who can discover their Android devices and send files. According to Google’s blog post detailing its CES announcement, the Quick Share feature will begin rolling out to devices that currently support Nearby Sharing in February.
Google partners with Samsung to launch Quick Share on Android phones
Photo credit: Google
Google also announced that it will expand fast pairing support for Bluetooth accessories to Chromecast and Google TV next month, and to more Google TV devices later this year. Quick Pair allows users to seamlessly pair Bluetooth devices such as headphones with Android phones and Chromebooks with a single click in pairing mode. With the new update, TV audio can be quickly streamed to headphones or Bluetooth speakers.
There are more updates coming to Chromecast. While users can easily cast content from YouTube and other apps to their TVs, Google is expanding casting capabilities to more apps. Users can now cast TikTok content from their phones to Chromecast built-in devices. The company said the ability to cast live video from social media apps to TVs is also coming soon. Google is also launching a new casting feature that allows users to cast music and podcasts from the Spotify and YouTube Music apps on compatible Pixel phones to a nearby Pixel tablet in docked mode.
Google is also enhancing interoperability between devices through Matter, a standard for its smart home platforms, apps and devices. “In the future, LG TVs, as well as select Google TV and other Android TV OS devices, will serve as hubs for Google Home. So if you have a Nest Hub, Nest Mini, or compatible TV, you can easily add Matter devices to your home network. And control them locally using the Google Home app.”
LG TVs, as well as select Google TV and other Android TV OS devices, will serve as the hub of Google Home
Photo credit: Google
Finally, Android Auto is also getting an update. In the coming months, EVs compatible with Android Auto will be able to share real-time battery information with Google Maps, the company said. This feature will provide a battery charge estimate upon arrival at your destination, suggested stops along the route, and an estimated charging time.