Google made quite a few announcements on the first day of Google I/O 2026, and one of them is “Continue On,” which is an Android 17 feature that app developers can implement to provide cross-device continuity for their users.
In Google’s own words, “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.”
In simpler words, if you are working on a document in the Google Docs app on your Android smartphone, with Continue On, you continue the same work on an Android tablet in the Google Docs app, provided both devices are connected to the same account. The handoff suggestion will appear in the tablet’s taskbar.
Handoff suggestion appears in the tablet’s taskbar
Continue On works bidirectionally, meaning any supported Android device can both send and receive app activities and tasks. However, at launch, Continue On will only support mobile-to-tablet device transitions.
Continue On supports two types of handoffs: app-to-app handoff and web handoff.
App-to-app handoff lets you continue using an app on a tablet right where you left off on a smartphone. The Google Docs example we cited above is an app-to-app handoff. The video below shows how it works.
With web handoff, your activity and data from the app on your Android smartphone continue in your tablet’s default web browser rather than the app itself. For example, if you are writing an email in the Gmail app on your smartphone, with web handoff, you continue that work on a tablet in a web browser. The video below shows how that works.
Continue On also has a fallback system that works when app-to-app handoff is preferred, but the receiving device (tablet) doesn’t have the app installed on the sender device (smartphone). In such a scenario, the task can be opened in the receiving device’s default web browser to ensure continuity.
Continue On will be available with the Android 17 release candidate.
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