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Matthew Mountjoy
Published 10 minutes ago
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Google is taking a feature out of Apple's playbook and is developing a new feature titled Universal Clipboard that will make it easier to share copied content between Android devices. It's reportedly making its debut in next year's Android 17 update.
Easier copying and pasting
Android currently uses Gboard, which lets you copy and paste within apps, but it doesn't automatically sync to other devices, as Universal Clipboard would. Meanwhile, shareability with Gboard has gotten more difficult, as Google has tightened access to Gboard's ClipboardManager API.
According to Android Authority, Android 10 introduced restrictions that allow only the default keyboard or app that is in use to read the clipboard. With Android 13, that tightened up even more, with the clipboard history clearing after an hour and an automatic warning whenever an app tries to access it.
For Gboard to sync the clipboard across devices, users need to use Microsoft's SwiftKey as their default keyboard. Because Microsoft owns both Windows and SwiftKey, the tech giant has developed a clipboard sharing tool between the two that Android users can adopt. Interestingly, some Android devices can sync their clipboards without SwiftKey, but only because a pre-installed system utility bypasses background restrictions and uses Windows Link to stream clipboard data to a PC.
A bite of Apple on Android
If Google does go ahead and implement Universal Clipboard, it could adopt a similar approach to Microsoft's to sync clipboards between Android devices and Chromebooks, likely using Google's Play Services. According to Android Authority, the feature would work differently on Pixels, where the Pixel System Service app would likely handle the task instead of Google Play Services itself.
The name Universal Clipboard is not yet finalized, but Android Authority based its guess about it on a new UniversalClipboardManager class appearing under the android.companion.datatransfer.continuity path in the latest Android beta and canary releases.
Universal Clipboard would be the latest Google effort to work with or like iOS devices. Recently, Google made a massive breakthrough by enabling Android's Quick Share to work seamlessly with Apple's AirDrop, allowing both Android and iOS users to share files, photos, videos, etc., without using alternative routes like Google Drive or third-party services. And Google is also reportedly adding a similar feature to Apple's NameDrop, enabling Android users to seamlessly swap contact information across devices.
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