Google lets users with multiple Android devices share internet connections

Google has expanded tethering functionality in Android, which should make it easier to share the internet connection. This makes it possible to automatically share the connection between devices that are logged in to the same Google account.

The new functionality seems to be rolling out slowly and is not yet available to everyone, Android Police reports. It appears that Google will introduce the tethering extension with version 10.2 of Google Play Services, but only Nexus and Pixel devices will be able to access it for now. In addition, these devices must be equipped with Android version 7.1.1.

Users who enable so-called Instant Tethering in the settings do not need to do anything else to share their internet connection with other devices, provided that the same Google account is signed in. When one of the devices loses the internet connection, a message is displayed asking whether to connect via another device.

Google has not announced the internet sharing service in a big way, so it is still a mystery when the functionality will be available to everyone. Android Police thinks that Google is working on a test, and that it is therefore a small rollout for the time being.