Chrome OS gets support for instant tethering

Google seems to be planning to give Chrome OS support for instant tethering, a way to easily share a mobile device’s Internet connection. The functionality was previously only available for Pixel and Nexus devices.

The new functionality was not widely announced by Google, but the Chrome Story blog found that an early developer version of Chrome OS in the Canary channel has support for instant tethering. To do this, a flag must be turned on via chrome://flags with the name enable-tether. The function will then be visible after restarting the Chromebook.

It is then possible to automatically use the internet connection of another device. However, this is only possible with devices that also support instant tethering, and currently only Google’s Pixel and Nexus devices.

Google released the feature early this year. To use instant tethering, all devices that want to share the internet connection must be signed in to the same Google account. Then a private WiFi network is set up with a host device. For now, only the Nexus 5X, 6, 6P and the Pixel and Pixel XL can host.

Photo via 9To5Google.