Google's 'Better Together' Phone Features Unavailable for Samsung Devices at Launch

Google's new "Better Together" feature set, designed to let Android phones work more seamlessly with other nearby devices, will not be available to Samsung phone owners when it launches, according to a report from Ars Technica.

The limitation stems from a software requirement: Better Together depends on Android 17, the newest version of Google's mobile operating system. While Google has begun rolling the features out on devices that already run Android 17, Samsung's flagship phones have not yet received the Android 17 update needed to support them.

The gap means Samsung customers, who make up one of the largest shares of the global Android market, will be unable to use the cross-device features at the same time as other Android users, even though Samsung phones are expected to eventually support Android 17.

Google has not publicly detailed a timeline for when Samsung's Android 17 rollout will be completed, and it remains unclear how long the gap between the feature's debut and Samsung's software update will last.

The situation highlights a recurring challenge within the Android ecosystem: because phone manufacturers control the pace at which they deliver operating system updates to their own devices, new Android features frequently reach some brands well ahead of others, even when a feature is designed to work across the platform as a whole.