Googlebook “Better Together” phone features don’t work with Samsung at launch

Googlebook 的“Better Together”手机互联功能在发布初期无法适配三星设备

Googlebooks are Google’s latest attempt to carve out a piece of the premium laptop market, and tight integration with Android phones is a key part of that effort. Now that Googlebooks are available, we’re learning of some frustrating limitations of that plan. For now, Googlebooks will only play nicely with your phone if you have a Pixel.

Googlebook 是谷歌进军高端笔记本电脑市场的最新尝试，而与 Android 手机的深度集成是其核心卖点之一。随着 Googlebook 正式上市，我们发现该计划存在一些令人沮丧的局限性。目前，Googlebook 仅能与 Pixel 手机实现良好的协同工作。

When Google announced the launch window for Googlebooks, it said the laptops were “engineered to work with your Android phone right out of the box.” But as with many things Google, the truth is more convoluted. We have since learned that you need Android 17 for any of the nifty integrations to work. With a compatible Android 17 phone, you can seamlessly stream apps to your laptop, access files on your phone, mirror notifications, and continue where you left off in certain apps when switching from phone to laptop.

当谷歌宣布 Googlebook 的发布窗口时，曾宣称这些笔记本电脑是“为与你的 Android 手机开箱即用而设计”。但正如谷歌的许多产品一样，事实远比这复杂。我们后来了解到，要使用这些便捷的集成功能，必须运行 Android 17 系统。在兼容的 Android 17 手机上，你可以无缝地将应用流式传输到笔记本电脑、访问手机文件、同步通知，并在从手机切换到笔记本电脑时继续处理未完成的任务。

You might think that the latest Samsung phones, which shipped with Android 17, would be ready for this experience. You’d be wrong, though. Some early Googlebook adopters have complained that phones like the Z Fold 8 won’t work with the laptops. While the devices appear to see each other, the phone doesn’t stay connected. Google representatives have since confirmed that these “Better Together” features are not currently supported on even the latest Samsung phones. An update that brings support to Samsung phones will roll out in “the coming weeks.”

你可能认为出厂预装 Android 17 的最新款三星手机应该已经准备好支持这些功能了，但事实并非如此。一些首批购买 Googlebook 的用户抱怨称，像 Z Fold 8 这样的手机无法与笔记本电脑正常连接。虽然设备之间似乎可以互相识别，但手机无法保持连接状态。谷歌代表随后证实，这些“Better Together”功能目前甚至在最新的三星手机上也不受支持。预计在“未来几周内”将推送更新以支持三星手机。

Even when that update arrives, only Samsung phones with Android 17 will work. If you have an older or cheaper phone, you may not get the necessary OS update until later. And Samsung is actually better about update support than most device makers. Motorola released its 2026 phones with Android 16, and they’re still waiting on a final update to version 17. OnePlus, which has recently scaled back its operations in several markets, is also still testing Android 17. Xiaomi has rolled out Android 17 to some high-end devices, but Googlebooks aren’t available in most of its core markets. This leaves Pixel phones as the only option if you want proper mobile integration with your new Google laptop today.

即使更新到来，也只有运行 Android 17 的三星手机才能使用。如果你使用的是旧款或廉价手机，可能要等到更晚才能获得必要的系统更新。事实上，三星在更新支持方面已经比大多数设备制造商做得更好。摩托罗拉 2026 年发布的手机搭载的是 Android 16，目前仍在等待 Android 17 的最终更新。最近在多个市场缩减业务的一加（OnePlus）也仍在测试 Android 17。小米已向部分高端设备推送了 Android 17，但 Googlebook 在其核心市场大多尚未发售。这意味着，如果你现在想让你的新款谷歌笔记本电脑实现完善的移动端集成，Pixel 手机是唯一的选择。

The Googlebook platform probably appeals more to people who already use the company’s bespoke Android phones, but Samsung is by far the largest Android OEM. Launching Googlebooks without Samsung support, and not being clear about that in any public statements, is not a great start for Google’s refreshed laptop effort.

Googlebook 平台可能更吸引那些已经在使用谷歌自家 Android 手机的用户，但三星无疑是目前最大的 Android 原始设备制造商（OEM）。在没有三星支持的情况下发布 Googlebook，且未在任何公开声明中明确说明这一点，对于谷歌重振笔记本电脑业务的努力来说，并不是一个好的开始。

The core issue is that Googlebooks rely on features that are exclusive to Android 17. This used to be a common issue with Android, as phones from various manufacturers often lag behind on major OS updates. However, Google has worked to move more features into Google Play Services and create a modular system layer to accelerate updates. The result is that you don’t usually have to care what build of Android your phone runs anymore—there are very few features exclusive to new versions today, but Googlebook support is apparently one of them.

核心问题在于，Googlebook 依赖于 Android 17 的独有功能。这在 Android 生态中曾是一个常见问题，因为不同制造商的手机在重大系统更新上往往滞后。然而，谷歌一直致力于将更多功能迁移到 Google Play 服务中，并创建模块化系统层以加速更新。结果就是，你通常不再需要关心手机运行的是哪个版本的 Android 系统——如今几乎没有功能是新版本独占的，但显然，Googlebook 的支持功能正是其中之一。