As we're on the eve of Google IO 2022, Android 13 has seen a public beta and includes hints at Google's own version of Handoff, a feature that first appeared on Apple devices.
Handoff allows you to continue using the same app when you switch between different Apple devices. It can be Safari, a music track, or a podcast, as long as you're signed in with the same Apple ID account. But Continuity allows you to continue using a feature on another Apple device, like taking a photo and viewing it on your Mac.
While Google lets you sync your favorites and purchases when you're signed in to Android or ChromeOS, the same can't be said when you're browsing a web page, or in the middle of listening to a Spice Girls track or watching The Batman again.
There are indications that it is already called Tap to Transfer in the public beta version of Android 13, but there is no confirmation from Google yet. With that in mind, that's why Handoff is set to be one of the core features of Android 13, with the potential for expansion to other Google devices.
Pass your hand, pass your hand
I have been an Apple user since I bought a third-generation iPod in 2004. I replaced my PC with an older model Intel iMac and imported the first iPhone in 2007.
Throughout this, I've always appreciated features that allow me to manage my content across devices, without having to go through the old-school method of emailing it to myself.
Along with Continuity and Transfer, these features allow me to seamlessly transfer my workflow from my iPhone 13 Pro to my 14-inch MacBook Pro.
But there are users who only have Google devices, whether it's a Pixelbook and a Pixel 6, or a Google Nest and a Fitbit. But managing and sending your data and content between these devices isn't currently as easy as Apple's method, and in 2022 that's not a good thing.
Android 13 seems poised to include a feature that alleviates some of these issues, tentatively called "TTT," or Tap to Transfer.
Since an initial release in January, you can send the media you watch or listen to on an Android 13 device to a device that might be nearby.
But it should be much more. Being able to transfer your music from your Pixel 6 to a Chrome web browser should be easier, as well as being able to continue listening to a track on Google Play Music that's on your OnePlus 10 Pro, on a Pixelbook.
It's time for Google to realize that device usability matters. While his recent efforts with Material You, the redesigned themes for Android have been very well received, there is still work to be done.
As more products appear (and more are apparently on the way, one of them being the Pixel Watch), it will be more important than ever to see greater cohesion between the devices. Having more control over your content on the devices you own will be appealing to many, and it looks like Android 13 is the first sign that Google knows this.
The question now is whether the same functionality will not only appear in the rest of its product line, but whether the functionality is better than what Apple has taken in recent years.