Android’s Fast Pair technology launched October of last year, providing users of the Google-built operating system to quickly and easily pair compatible Bluetooth devices that are within range of their phone.
Now, Google has announced via its Android Developers Blog that Fast Pair-enabled accessories, like headphones and speakers, will be easier to connect to other devices associated with the same Google Play account.
The announcement also reveals that this feature will be supported in Chromebooks some time in the coming year. That means only smartphones will boast the feature for now but, as the post mentions, they must run Android 6.0 or higher to make use of Fast Pair.
A simpler future
While the technology has had a full year in service on Android handsets, there has been a somewhat slow uptake from developers of Bluetooth headphones and speakers.
The blog post mentions specifically that Google has been working closely with dozens of manufacturers such as Jaybird, which has implemented Fast Pair compatibility in its new Tarah sports headphones.
Furthermore, Google has partnered with industry-leading Bluetooth technology companies in order to implement Fast Pair support in their Software Development Kits (SDKs), which hopefully should translate to a fresh wave of compatible devices in the near future.
