Remembering WiFi passwords across networks and your various devices can seem like a simple thing that doesn’t need any help. But if you have a lot of devices or you have to change every once in a while, it can be a pain. Google previously introduced WiFi password syncing between your Chrome OS tablets and your Chromebook. But now it looks like they will bring a better version of this syncing capabilities that would let it sync to and from your Android smartphone as well.
9 to 5 Google shares that they have spotted a new flag in Chrome OS that would sync WiFi network configurations between Chrome OS devices and the connected Android phone. Some developers have looked into it and weighed in on what this could mean. One said that based on this, the WiFi sync may actually work both ways so when you connect to a new network on your Chromebook, it will also sync to your Android smartphone and vice versa.
The first version of the WiFi sync option was based on the system that syncs your bookmarks across all devices that are logged into your Chrome account. This one seems to be be based on the Connected Device settings of Chrome OS. It’s the same one that handles the Smart Lock system and the upcoming Android Phone Hub that would let you connect your phone to see text/RCS messages among other things.
Basically, what it means is that your WiFi passwords will sync over Bluetooth instead of over the Internet, which some may prefer especially if their internet connection is not always stable. Other than the flag, there’s no other code that they’re seeing to support the feature. Hopefully we get more details or at least more code to see where this is going or if it’s actually going anywhere. During this time when people are working remotely, this seems like a useful thing to have.
We may actually see WiFi passwords sync between Chrome OS and Android smartphones when Chrome OS 87 is released. Unfortunately, that’s still around December so don’t hold your breath.
