Whether you love or hate Apple, there’s no denying that the company’s ecosystem is the envy of its competitors. Devices such as iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Apple Watch, AirPods and Homepod all work and communicate seamlessly with one another. This is something folks using devices from various manufacturers don't generally get to enjoy. This might change, however, thanks to Snapdragon Seamless.
Announced at this year’s Snapdragon Summit, Snapdragon Seamless is a cross-platform technology that enables Android, Windows 11, and Snapdragon devices to discover one another and share information to work as one integrated system. That sure sounds like the Apple ecosystem to me.
With Snapdragon Seamless, you can perform functions like dragging files and windows across different types of devices (from a laptop to a phone and vice versa). Mice and keyboards should also work seamlessly across PCs, phones and tablets. Qualcomm also says this technology will enable earbuds to switch intelligently based on the priority of an audio source — such as when you receive a phone call while listening to music.
Based on what Qualcomm showed, you'll be able to monitor and control your integrated devices via a phone app.
Snapdragon Seamless is incorporated into Qualcomm’s mobile platforms, which include the company’s newest processors: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Snapdragon X Elite. The company’s wearable and hearable platforms are also part of Snapdragon Seamless. It will also extend to XR, Auto and other platforms in the future.
Qualcomm is collaborating with several companies to enable multi-device experiences with Snapdragon Seamless. This includes Microsoft, Android, Xiaomi, Asus, Honor, Lenovo, and OPPO, among others. We should see what comes out of these partnerships as early as this year.
Outlook
Interoperability between devices from various manufacturers using different operating systems isn’t new. For instance, Microsoft Phone Link lets you respond to iPhone messages from your Windows PC. You can also do the same with Android phones. While these efforts are appreciated, they’re clunky compared to the Apple ecosystem where devices work (pardon the pun) seamlessly right out of the box.
We’ll have to see if Snapdragon Seamless can truly match what the Apple ecosystem offers. If it does, then perhaps folks can break the shackles of the Apple ecosystem they might be chained to. If Qualcomm can deliver the equivalent of Apple handoff, this could be a game-changer for non-Apple users. I’m personally looking forward to testing Snapdragon Seamless in the real world, so stay tuned for that when it happens.
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