Set up & use Phone Hub on your Chromebook

You can use features on your 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.

What you need

• A Chromebook that runs M89 or later
• An Android phone that runs Android 5.1 or later

Connect your phone to your Chromebook

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

1. On your Chromebook, at the bottom right, next to the time, select the Phone .
2. Select Get Started.
3. When prompted on your Chromebook, select Accept & continue.
4. Under "Connected devices" next to "Android phone," select Set up.
5. To complete Phone Hub setup, follow the on-screen instructions. 
6. Select Done.

Tip: If you use your Chromebook at work or school, you may not be able to use these features with your phone. For more help, contact your administrator.

Use Phone Hub features

On your Chromebook, at the bottom right, select the Phone . You can:

• Check your phone’s cell signal or battery status
• Use quick commands like enable hotspot, silence phone, or locate phone
• Browse Chrome tabs from your Android device on your Chromebook
• Control and sync notifications
• Access or download recent photos and screenshots from your phone’s Gallery
• Stream your phone's apps

Tip: You can still use these features when your Chromebook is offline.

Turn Phone Hub features on or off

1. On your Chromebook, select the time.
2. Select Settings .
3. Under "Connected devices," select your phone.
4. Turn on or off features:
   • Toggle Phone Hub on or off.
   •  Toggle the individual feature on or off

Tip: In Phone Hub, to find "Connected devices," tap Settings .

Stream apps on your Chromebook

Important: To use Phone Hub to stream apps, you'll need:

• A Pixel 4A or later that runs Android version 13 or later.
• Nothing Phone (1)
• Nothing Phone (2)
• Select Xiaomi devices with Android version 13 or later:
  • 12T
  • 12T Pro
  • 13
  • 13 Pro

Select devices that run on Android 13 or later support app streaming. Once connected, Phone Hub will inform you when:

• An app stream is terminated due to inactivity
• An app stream is terminated because your phone is too far away from your Chromebook
• An app stream is terminated due to a connection error
• An app window will terminate an ongoing activity when you try to close a window

To stream apps, you'll need to meet certain requirements:

• Both devices must share the same Wi-Fi network.
• Some public/private Wi-Fi networks may not be supported.
• Your phone and Chromebook must be close to each other.

You can also use Instant Tethering to put both devices on the same local area network if your current network environment doesn't support app streaming.

This unblocks users who aren't able to get on the same network and enables app streaming. Learn more about Instant Tethering.

Important: Before you can stream apps, you need to grant the necessary permissions on your connected Android phone.

1. On your Chromebook, at the bottom right, next to the time, select the 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. Select Done.
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.

Stream apps easily

Important: Due to Digital Rights Management (DRM) policies of some entertainment apps, your streaming experience on Chromebook may not behave as expected.

There are 3 ways you can launch an app stream:

• Through a messaging app notifications:
  1. Phone Hub shows a loading indication that your app will open.
  2. The app's streaming window opens.
  3. The app icon appears next to the Phone Hub icon.
• Through the Recent apps list in Phone Hub:
  1. On your Android device, open an app 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 you want to stream.
• Through "All Apps," which you can access through the Recent Apps list in Phone Hub:
  1. On your Android device, open an app 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 All Apps.
  3. Select the app you want to stream.

Tips:

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

End a stream easily with your phone

1. On your phone, swipe down to open your Notifications.
   • You'll find the notification "Streaming with your Chromebook."
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.

Manage your Chromebook profile on your phone

1. On your phone, open Settings.
2. Tap Connected devices.
3. Under "Connected devices," next to "Chromebook," tap Settings.
4. Choose your profile.
5. Allow access to:
   • Notifications
   • Apps
   • Photos and media
   • Wi-Fi Sync

How lock-on-sleep setting works

The lock-on-sleep setting needs to be verified before you can open each stream. If you get an error that the app can't open, turn on "Show lock screen when waking from sleep" and try the steps again.

You've already set up a lock screen on your phone, but not on the device that you're streaming to

When you click on a stream notification, you'll be prompted to set-up a local, lock-on-sleep preference. Once the device you're streaming to, you can choose to create:

• A password
• A PIN
• Both a password and a PIN

After you've set up your lock-on-sleep preference, follow the on-screen instructions to start streaming.

If you already set up a lock screen on the device that you're streaming to, but not on your phone

When you click on a stream notification, you'll be able to start your stream without any further action.

If both your phone and your Chromebook don't have a lock-on-sleep setting, you'll get an error that says that your stream can't start. To enable the stream, set up a lock screen on either your phone or Chromebook.

Troubleshoot Phone Hub features

If you can't access features on your phone through Phone Hub with your Chromebook, try the following:

• If your phone and your Chromebook were previously paired over Bluetooth, remove the pairing from both devices.
• Make sure Bluetooth has been turned on for both devices. 
• Turn your phone's Bluetooth off then on again.
• Turn your Chromebook off then on again. 

Learn more about connecting through Bluetooth on your Android phone. 

Learn more about connecting to bluetooth devices.

Related articles

• Connect to your phone's network
• Send text messages from your Chromebook
• Connect your Android phone to your Chromebook