Your Android devices can now share an instant hotspot or a call; here’s how to turn it on

It’s taken a long time, but Google has finally figured out how to make your Android phones and tablets talk to each other and collaborate together, just like Apple and Samsung devices do. The feature, which is called cross-device services, has been leaked for ages, officially announced in May, and only started working for me in the past couple of days.

There are currently two aspects to this cross-device integration: hotspot and calls. The idea is that, as long as your two phones are logged into the same Google account, they are part of the same group and can share an instant hotspot or a video call when they’re near each other — no setup or passwords required. And unlike Apple’s or Samsung’s solutions, you don’t need to have devices from one specific brand; this should work across all Android phones, regardless of brand (though we know the instant hotspot won’t work with Samsung devices, sadly).