Googlebook Launch Leaves Samsung Phones Waiting For Better Together Support

Google's new Googlebook laptops have reached buyers with a phone-integration limit that cuts against one of their launch promises: the Better Together features work with Pixel phones first, while Samsung's latest Android 17 handsets are not supported yet.

Ars Technica reports that Google has confirmed Samsung support is due in the coming weeks.

The problem sits at the center of the product pitch.

Googlebooks are meant to push Google's laptop line further into the premium market by linking the computer more tightly with Android phones.

The advertised experience includes app streaming from a phone to the laptop, phone-file access, mirrored notifications and handoff features that let users continue certain app activity when moving between devices.

Those functions require Android 17, but the operating-system requirement has not translated into broad launch compatibility.

Early owners using Samsung devices such as the Z Fold 8 found that the phone and laptop could detect each other but would not maintain the connection needed for the Better Together tools.

Google's confirmation leaves Pixel phones as the only practical launch path for the full integration.

Samsung's position also shows why the rollout is more constrained than a simple software-version checklist.

Its newest premium phones already shipped with Android 17, and Samsung generally offers stronger update support than many Android vendors.

If those devices still need a later compatibility update, owners of older or lower-cost Samsung models may have to wait longer for the operating-system update and then for the Googlebook feature support to align.

The gap is wider across the rest of the Android market.

Motorola's 2026 phones launched with Android 16 and are still waiting for a finished Android 17 update.

OnePlus is still testing Android 17 after scaling back in several markets, and Xiaomi has begun its own Android 17 rollout but is unlikely to cover its full catalogue quickly.

That leaves many non-Pixel users outside the laptop's headline cross-device features at launch.

For Google, the limitation narrows the early audience for a product that depends on ecosystem polish.

The company can control Pixel phones, Android software and the laptop experience more tightly than it can coordinate every Android partner's release schedule and device-specific integration work.

That control helps explain why Pixel support arrived first, but it also makes the broader Android promise harder to deliver on day one.

At launch, Better Together is therefore a narrower feature than the Googlebook marketing line suggested.

Pixel owners can use the cross-device tools now, Samsung owners must wait for Google's planned support update, and buyers with other Android brands remain dependent on each vendor's Android 17 rollout before the laptop can deliver its advertised phone experience.