What is Google Bluetooth Fast Pair

Image credit to Google

The “Fast Pair” feature designed for facilitating connecting Bluetooth devices to smartphones that debuted alongside the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL is now rolling out to more handsets, Google announced on Tuesday. Fast Pair makes discovery & pairing of Bluetooth devices easy and is currently rolling out to Android 6.0+ devices.

The process bypasses the need to connect by fiddling with settings: Simply put a Fast Pair-equipped device in pairing mode and any Android phone or tablet will get a prompt to connect.speed and security are the design principles driving the Fast Pair specification. Fast Pair uses BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) for advertising and discovery and uses classic Bluetooth for pairing."Ease of use, speed and security are the design principles driving the Fast Pair specification," Google Product Managers Ritesh Nayak M and Ronald Ho wrote in a Tuesday post on the Android Developers Blog.

Not every device is supported by default — at launch, only Google Pixel Buds, Libratone Adapt On-Ear headphones, and Plantronics Voyager 8200-series headsets will support it.To make it work, you'll  need to update your Google Play Services app to version 11.7 or newer, which should happen automatically (it's rolling out now) over the next few weeks.Also , Some other features of the Pixel 2 lineup like Google Lens are also expected to roll out to third-party Android devices in the near future.

1. Turn on a Fast Pair-enabled device and put it in pairing mode. 
   
   
   Android scans for BLE broadcasts in close proximity of the user's phone and discovers a Fast Pair packet (provided Bluetooth and Location is turned on).
   
   
   This packet is sent to our servers to get back the device's product image, product name and companion app (if there is one).
2. The user receives a high priority notification asking them to "Tap to pair" to the device. The notification contains the product name and image.
3. When the user taps on the notification, we use classic Bluetooth to establish a connection.
4. A success notification is shown which contains a link to download the companion app (if there is one).