Google launched its new Googlebook devices in recent weeks as the ultimate laptop companion for Android devices. In fact, in almost every promotion for these new Googlebooks, they mention that these work best with other Android phones, and we’re not just talking about Pixel phones.
It then came as a surprise to Samsung phone owners who were missing some critical Googlebook features out of the box. Google had to acknowledge pretty quickly that they were indeed missing those features, but that they should be rolling out soon. That rollout has now begun.
Googlebook and Samsun get “Better Together” features
The “Better Together” features on Googlebooks are those like Continue On, Cast My Apps, Quick Access, and Notification Sync. Most of those are pretty self-explanatory in nature by name, but the idea is those features help you continue from one device to the next, to open apps from your phone, and keep up with notifications between the two without any work. They are a big part of the selling point of a Googlebook if you own an Android phone.
These features are apparently only accessible on Android phones with Android 17, but they were missing on Samsung’s devices that are all already on Android 17. This is where Google confirmed that they were finishing off updates to make them accessible to Samsung’s devices, like the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Today, Google says that Google Play updates and background service updates will automatically rollout “over the next few days” with support for Better Together and a smoother first-time setup process for Samsung devices with Googlebooks.
Not having Samsung support out of the gate was so odd, but at least they were quick enough at bringing them to the latest Galaxy devices on Android 17.
