Android 17 will arrive with a very useful feature, similar to Apple’s Handoff. The feature is called ‘Continue On’, and it will let you move tasks between devices seamlessly on Android 17. This will essentially bring cross-device continuity to a new level.
‘Continue On’ is Android 17’s best new feature, it brings cross-device continuity
This feature, interestingly enough, was not announced during the Google I/O 2026 keynote. It was presented during the ‘What’s new in Android’ talk at Google I/O 2026. So, after the keynote ended.
This is how Google explained the feature: “Continue On enables users to start an Android app on one Android device and then transition to another device in their Android ecosystem, continuing the user journey they started.”
So, all you’ll need to do is be connected to the same Google account on the two devices, and you’ll essentially be able to jump to another Android 17 device without losing your progress, regardless of what you were doing.
It does work bidirectionally, but it will be limited at first
Google made sure to note that the process will work bidirectionally, but also that it will initially only work between Android phones and tablets. Here’s an example on how it works, with Google Docs being used.
Google provided another example. This time around, with a web browser. In the video below, you’’ll see a Gmail app handed off to Chrome on a tablet, as the tablet proceeds to open that specific email.
It will become available with Android 17 RC1
The company mentioned that Continue On will be available in Android ‘RC1’. We presume this stands for ‘Release Candidate’. So, it’s coming soon. It will be a bit limited at launch, but it’s nice to finally see it happening. This will improve the workflow of many people, and that includes me, and I know several of my colleagues who will benefit from the feature.
The post ‘Continue On’ Is Google’s Answer to Apple Handoff — It’s Coming With Android 17 appeared first on Android Headlines.
