Google unveiled the 'Continue On' feature as part of its Android 17 update on June 16 during the "What's new in Android" presentation [1]. The feature allows users to start a task on an Android smartphone and pick it up on a compatible Android tablet, enabling seamless workflow across devices [2, 1].
At launch, 'Continue On' supports one-way handoff from phone to tablet only. Google says bidirectional functionality, allowing tablet-to-phone handoff, will arrive later [2, 1]. The Verge reported that "‘Continue On’ is designed to eventually be bidirectional, but Google says that at launch it will only support tasks moving from a smartphone to a tablet" [2].
On Android tablets, users will see a 'Continue On' icon in the dock featuring the most recently used phone app. This icon offers quick access to continue activities like editing documents, reading emails, or browsing web pages started on the phone [2, 1]. A Lifehacker article described how the feature works: "When you open an app on one of your Android devices, you'll notice the app appear on your other device, with a 'Handoff Suggestion label' hovering above it" [1].
Google plans to make the feature available for testing soon in the Android 17 release candidate 1 (RC1) build [2, 1]. "Continue On" aims to bring Android's device interoperability closer to Apple's established Handoff functionality, providing a more interconnected user experience across Android devices [2, 1].
