Google made several 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 its Android ecosystem, continuing the user’s journey.”
In simple terms, if you are working on a document in the Google Docs app on your Android smartphone, with Continue, you continue the same work in the Google Docs app on an Android tablet, provided both devices are linked to the same account. The Handoff suggestion will appear in the tablet’s taskbar.
Handoff suggestion appears in the tablet’s taskbar
Continue works bidirectionally, meaning any supported Android device can send and receive app activities and actions. 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 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 apps on your Android smartphone continues in your tablet’s default web browser instead of the app itself. For example, if you’re composing an email in the Gmail app on your smartphone, with Web Handoff, you continue that work on the tablet in a web browser. The video below shows how it works.
Continue On also has a fallback system that works when app-to-app handoff is preferred, but the receiving device (tablet) does not have the app installed on the sending device (smartphone). In such a scenario, the job can be opened in the default web browser of the recipient device to ensure continuity.
Continue on will be available with Android 17 release candidate.
