It’s going to get a lot easier for (some) Android users to share their internet with their WiFi-only devices. The new Internet sharing feature is currently rolling out in beta and acts as an instant-access hotspot for any Android device up to a Chromebook, with no password required. It should all work seamlessly unless your main phone happens to be a Samsung Galaxy device. If so, sorry, then you’re out of luck.
Any Android mobile device should now or soon let you dive into Settings, Google, Devices & Sharing, and then toggle the option for cross-device services. As detailed by 9to5Google, which first spotted the update, this should take through the process of setting up your device groups with your various Android phones, tablets, or even your Chromebook. The feature is still rolling out, and currently, it’s on the latest beta update of Google Play services. Users should get these features “as soon as they’re released” according to the feature support page.
Google first showed off some of these features at its I/O dev conference in May. Internet sharing is easily the more useful of the two. Any of those phones or tablets in your device groups can instantly connect to your 5G when out on the town. In addition, the sharing features should allow you to move your calls more easily between Android devices. For instance, it should easily cast your Meet call to your tablet with a press of a new in-app cast icon. Currently, video sharing is limited to Google Meet and Gmail.
But there are several big snags that may make the new update useless. The big one is if you happen to use a Samsung phone, you won’t have any option to use the new instant hotspot feature. On its support page, Google tells Galaxy users to try out Galaxy’s Auto Hotspot feature instead.
Samsung’s Auto Hotspot automatically connects to devices that share your Samsung Account or are already a part of your Samsung Account family group. I personally don’t use any other devices other than my Galaxy products with my Samsung account, so it’s not nearly as immediately useful as Google’s Internet sharing. If you just happen to be a big Samsung diehard, then you won’t care. Otherwise, Galaxy users are missing out.
We’ve known about this limitation since it was first announced, but it’s still a bummer. That being said, Galaxy users can already connect to Windows 11 PCs using the Phone Link app’s instant hotspot feature. That’s already useful, but this limitation is just another symptom of Samsung’s increasingly Apple-like walled garden sensibilities.
Galaxy phones remain the most popular Android devices in the U.S., so there will be millions of folks missing out. Samsung users can already benefit from multiple Google-made features like Circle to Search and Gemini. That manages to coexist with Samsung’s own touted AI features. Why can’t we share the love with instant hotspots as well?