Damian Wilde/Android Authority
long story short
- The latest version of Google Play Services appears to enable the “Cast to nearby devices” feature for Pixel tablets.
- This was rumored in August and demoed at CES 2024, but Google still hasn’t given a specific launch date.
- This feature allows you to “throw” media from your phone to your tablet (and vice versa) by getting closer.
August 2023, frequently Android Authority Contributor Mishaal Rahman shows off a new feature for Pixel tablets. Although it was simple at the time, it appeared to allow users to “throw” media from their phone onto a Pixel tablet by simply placing the two devices close to each other. At CES 2024, Google demonstrated this and gave it a name: “Cast to nearby devices.” However, the company hasn’t revealed when we’ll actually get to use it, but the latest Google Play services version suggests it will be very, very soon.
one APK teardown Help predict future features that may appear on the service based on ongoing code. However, such predicted functionality may not be publicly released.
In the latest Google Play Services 24.10.16 beta, we discovered a string that directly references the “Cast to nearby devices” feature:
<string name="ftue_opt_in_half_sheet_description">You can now cast media to any Pixel Tablet on this Wi-Fi network just by holding your phone in front of
it.</string>
<string name="ftue_opt_in_half_sheet_title">A new way to cast to tablets</string>
As the string indicates, you need to connect your phone and tablet to the same Wi-Fi for this to work. Additionally, Google confirmed at CES that this will require Pixel phones, although the string doesn’t say so. Google also confirmed it will work with Spotify and YouTube Music, but declined to say whether other services will be supported at launch or if any other services will be supported post-launch.
There are a few things unclear:
- Which Pixel phones are supported?
- Protocol used for handover (NFC, Bluetooth, UWB, etc.)
- When will the rollout actually begin?
Google only used the usual “later this year” timeline when announcing the feature, so who knows when it will actually land. However, since it appears on Google Play Services, we may see its launch within a few weeks. This will likely come with the next Pixel Feature Drop, which we expect to launch in June or July. It’s also possible that it could land sooner than that, but we’ll have to wait and see.