A Rival Ecosystem

When Apple rolls out new products or services, the hook is their ecosystem. People can make fun of "it just works" when things don't work. However, many ways Apple devices and services have an interplay between them is a huge benefit. Airdrop for starters is amazing. Airplay is another no-hassle way to sling content from one device to another. Even AirPods are part of it with a single-pairing that carries to all your other devices. At CES, Google has unveiled their plans to develop their own ecosystem.

The company announced several new features that will be available in 2022:

Coming weeks:

Pair earbuds to Google TV, Android TV and Chromebook devices, which is similar to Apple’s AirPods pairing feature for Apple TV boxes and Macs

Quick sharing of photos and videos from Android phones to Chromebook, which is similar to AirDrop and Photo Stream on Apple devices.

Mark German writing for Bloomberg

These two features alone are fantastic. A pairing a set of earbuds once instead of to every device you own, is a huge convenience. Of course an Airdrop clone is something Android users would easily see huge benefits from. Google isn't stopping there though.

Later in 2022 they'll allow a Chromebook or Android device to get unlocked if you're wearing a Wear OS watch, use your phone to start a BMW, and speed up setup of a Chromebook by auto-transferring wifi passwords and settings from a nearby Android phone.

Steve Jobs said many times that "great artists steal" and I love the initiative Google is using here to take a run at their own ecosystem. This is a big lock-in for Apple customers. If done right, it can easily be a big lock-in for Android customers too. Competition in this space is a fantastic thing. I am very-much rooting for Google here.