Android 17 gets Google’s answer to Apple Handoff

Google has quietly put a familiar idea on the Android 17 track: a feature called Continue On that lets you start something on your phone and pick it up on a tablet without the usual app-juggling ritual. The pitch is simple, and a little overdue – Android devices are supposed to work together, yet until now that handoff has often felt more like a suggestion than a system.

The feature was shown at Google I/O 2026 and is positioned as Android’s own version of Apple Handoff. For users, the practical benefit is obvious: a document in Google Docs, an email draft, or even a browser page can follow you from a phone to a tablet as long as both devices use the same account and the app is installed on the second device.

How Continue On works on Android 17

In its first version, Continue On will work in one direction only: from phone to tablet. That is a modest start, but it still removes a lot of friction for people who bounce between screen sizes during the day. On the tablet, a Continue On badge will appear and suggest the last app used on the phone, making the handoff feel baked in rather than bolted on.

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• Start on a smartphone, continue on a tablet.
• Requires the same Google account on both devices.
• Works only with supported apps that are installed on the tablet.
• Can reopen documents, email, and some browser pages.

Google’s tablet push needs this Android 17 feature

This kind of cross-device continuity is one of the few areas where Apple has made the experience look deceptively easy, and Android has spent years trying to catch up. Google has already invested heavily in making phones, tablets, Chromebooks, and even nearby accessories cooperate better, so Continue On fits a wider strategy rather than a one-off gimmick.

Google plans to begin testing Continue On in the Android 17 RC1 pre-release, though no exact release date has been announced. If the rollout goes smoothly, the bigger question is whether Google keeps the feature limited to phone-to-tablet transfers or expands it into the full back-and-forth experience Android users have been waiting for.