14 DAY TRIAL // It would appear that Google is working on expanding its Instant Tethering feature for Chromebooks to support any Android smartphone, not only its Pixel devices.
Instant Tethering in Chrome OS, the Linux-powered operating system we can find on all Chromebook computers, is designed to allow users to tether their Android phone's mobile data connection to the Chromebook computer when they don't have access to a Wi-Fi network, creating a mobile hotspot.
It automatically connects your Android phone to your Chromebook, but, until today, Instant Tethering works only with Google's Pixel, Pixel XL, and Nexus series of Android smartphones, but according to Android Police, the feature recently started working with Android phones from other manufacturers, such as OnePlus and Samsung.
Instant Tethering for all Android phones is coming soon
One of their readers discovered that he's OnePlus 6 smartphone notified him that the device was automatically connected to his Chromebook running Chrome OS 71.0.3578.94 Beta via the Instant Tethering feature, allowing him to turn the phone into a mobile hotspot to share the mobile data connection to his Chromebook.
Another reader running Chrome OS 73.0.3669.0 Dev on his Chromebook managed to his Samsung Galaxy Note9 phablet to the Chromebook computer by activating the chrome://flags/#instant-tethering flag, adding the device to the Connected Devices settings, and then enabling Instant Tethering.
For now, Google said nothing about expanding the Instant Tethering feature to other Android devices, but it looks like it's already implemented in both beta and developer channels of Chrome OS,s o you could try it with your Android phone and report if it's working or not in the comments section below.
Please note that to use Instant Tethering your Android phone's mobile plan that support tethering. The latest stable Chrome OS version is now 71, so we could see the revamped Instant Tethering feature in the upcoming Chrome OS 72 release, which should be available in the coming weeks.
