If you have an Android phone there is a very good chance that you have long been a fan, preferring Google’s proprietary mobile operating system over Apple’s iOS. And if you have long been a fan then you probably also have one or two favorite features. Maybe you simply like having access to all of your Google accounts and applications at your fingertips. Maybe you rather enjoy the variability in available apps—and that many are free.
However, even the biggest Android fans may not be aware of all of the great features available on Android devices. For example, did you know that Android mobile devices have a feature called “Google Nearby?”
Google Nearby allows for two devices—both running on the Android operating system, of course—which are close in proximity to not only “see” each other but can also exchange data, back and forth.
Google Nearby is actually a group of APIs that developers can use to implement in new apps. Of course, the developers can combine these things to make apps and simplify things on the users side; so users only have to install the app (set of APIs) in order to implement bactrimsale the program. Users don’t even have to adjust with settings or program defaults: Nearby will simply work in the background and already present on all modern Android devices, through Google Play Services.
“Earlier this year, we started experimenting with surfacing websites relevant to a place in Chrome through the Physical Web Project,” explains Nearby Product Manager Akshay Kannan in an official blog post. “In addition to displaying relevant apps, Nearby will surface these websites directly from Android. To deploy your own beacons that work with Nearby, check out our developer blog post.”
Google Nearby actually uses three different signals to determine when two compatible devices are close enough to connect with each other through Wi-Fi, through Bluetooth, or through audio. The Wi-Fi component does not actually connect the two devices over Wi-Fi but it will compare Wi-Fi access points that each device can see and if the devices are connected to the same access point, they are likely close enough for Google Nearby to perform its functions. In terms of the Bluetooth, of course, the program will simply check to see if two devices are within each others’ Bluetooth range. Finally, Google Nearby can use the device’s microphone to determine if it can “hear” another device.