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Stream apps from your Pixel phone to a Chromebook with Phone Hub

You can use features on your Pixel phone from your Chromebook screen with Phone Hub. For example, you can check your phone notifications, find open tabs, and stream apps from your mobile Chrome browser on your Chromebook.

Your phone stays asleep during app streaming, which helps reduce battery use.

When you use Pixel Phone Hub, Chromebook protects your privacy and won’t let you stream apps that require user identity, like banking or medical apps.

What you need

Allow access to Pixel apps on Chromebook

Before you can stream apps, you must grant the necessary permissions.

  1. On your Chromebook, at the bottom right, click Phone .
  2. Select Connected devices.
  3. Under "Connected devices," select your phone.
  4. Under "Enabled," next to "Recent photos, notifications and messaging apps," select Setup.
  5. Follow the on-screen instructions.
  6. Click Done.

Important: Make sure that Bluetooth is turned on first. At the bottom right of your screen, select the time and turn on Bluetooth .

7. On your phone, allow access to:

  • Notifications
  • Photos and Media
  • Apps

8. After the set up is done, on your Chromebook, under "Connected devices," turn on Notifications and Apps.

Launch an app stream

Important:

  • Your Pixel phone and Chromebook must share the same Wi-Fi network. If not, you can turn on your phone’s hotspot from Phone Hub, allowing app streaming to work.
  • Your phone and Chromebook must be close to each other.
  • Some public or private Wi-Fi networks may not be supported.

You can start app streaming in 3 ways:

  • Messaging app notifications:
  1. Phone Hub shows a message from your message app.
  2. Click on the message to open the app stream.
  3. The app's streaming window opens.
  4. The app icon opens next to the Phone Hub icon.
  5. Select the app that you want to stream.
  • Recent apps list in Phone Hub:
  1. On your Android phone, open an app that you want to stream. Once the app is opened, it's added to "Recent apps" in Phone Hub.
  2. On your Chromebook, select Recent Apps.
  3. Select the app that you want to stream.
  • "All Apps," which you can access through the Recent Apps list in Phone Hub:
  1. On your Android phone, open an app that you want to stream. Once the app is opened, it's added to "All Apps" in Phone Hub.
  2. On your Chromebook, select Recent Apps and then All Apps.
  3. Select the app you want to stream.

Select the app you want to stream.

Tips:

  • Use your Chromebook's trackpad to zoom in and out on an app the same way you would on the phone's touchscreen.
  • If your Chromebook has touch support, you can use the screen to interact with the streamed app.

End an app stream

On your Pixel phone:

  1. On your phone, swipe down to open your notifications.
    • The notification "Streaming with your Chromebook " will display.
  2. To end a stream, tap End stream.

Tips:

  • You can stop the stream on your Chromebook if you close the streaming window.
  • When a streamed app is idle, it automatically stops the stream on your Chromebook.
  • You may need to set up a lock screen on your Pixel to use this feature, based on your Chromebook settings.

Phone Hub notifications

App streaming is supported on select devices that run on Android 13 or later. Once connected, Phone Hub will inform you when an app stream is terminated because:

  • The app has been inactive for too long.
  • Your phone is too far away from your Chromebook.
  • There was a connection error.
  • You closed the app window.

Tip: You can use Instant Tethering to put both devices on the same local area network when your current network environment doesn’t support app streaming. Learn more about Instant Tethering.

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