Google Announces Fast Pair For Hassle-Free Bluetooth Pairing

In the world of headphones, Bluetooth headphones are always popular since most of the OEMs said bye-bye to the 3.5mm headphone jack and this is just the beginning. Pairing Bluetooth devices to your phone has never been a beautiful process, but Google is aiming to alleviate this pain with the announcement of Fast Pair.




Similar to Apple's W1 chip that was introduced with AirPods last year, with Fast Pair, Google’s Nearby service scans for nearby Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) broadcasts within a close proximity of your phone and then asks if you’d like to pair. A simple tap on the notification that pops down (see below) will then finish up the pairing process for you. Once done, it may even recommend a companion app if there is one, through a second notification. Otherwise, you can immediately start using the connected Bluetooth device.

The only two headphones that currently work with Fast Pair include Google's Pixelbuds and Libratone's Q Adapt On-Ear, but Plantronics' upcoming Voyager 8200 wireless headphones will also support the new tech.

Unlike accessories for iOS that only work with the special W1 chip built inside of them, Fast Pair is a technology that can be pushed out to virtually any pair of Bluetooth headphones – upcoming or existing ones already on the market. Better yet, as long as you're using Google Play Services v11.7 or greater, you'll be able to take advantage of Fast Pair on devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or later.

Source : Android Developers Blog