Our Pixels aren't working with our Googlebooks, and it's not just us

Googlebooks have hit store shelves, and the Android Authority team has received review units as well. One of the biggest selling points is the “Better Together” integration with Android phones, but it looks like we’ve hit a major snag with Pixel phones.

Colleague Paul Jones and I are both unable to pair our Pixel phones with our Googlebooks. For what it’s worth, I’m using a Pixel 9 Pro XL and Paul’s using a Pixel 11 Pro XL and Pixel 11 Pro Fold, with all of our Pixel devices running the stable Android 17 update. We’re both running the ASUS Googlebook 14 with software version 17.CL3B.260622.271.R1. We’ve also tried factory resetting our Googlebooks, but to no avail.

Unfortunately, a few Reddit users are reporting pairing issues as well.

“I was able to cast an app from my phone earlier but now it doesn’t find the phone at all. I’ve tried everything including rebooting both devices, unpairing, toggling cross-device services off and on and clearing the cache and storage in the cross-device app on the phone,” reports user crazybandleader, who has a Pixel phone.

Meanwhile, Redditor TrinNYY also reported significant pairing problems:

I was able to connect to my Pixel Pro XL only once since I got my Acer on Sunday. When I click the phone icon I get prompted to setup it also reminds me that BT must be active on both & both on the same wifi. I’ve tried everything except factory reset. I opened a ticket on Monday still waiting, provided a bunch of screenshots rep said its escalated to engineering….

Some users have seen success by updating a bunch of services on their Googlebooks. This update page can be found by opening settings, tapping your account name at the top, clicking “all services,” and then “System services.” You should then see a list of system services that can be updated (as seen below), along with a list of up-to-date services. Some users have also reported that pairing eventually works after restarting their Googlebooks. Unfortunately, neither step has helped me.

Weirdly enough, a couple of Googlebook owners also report that they’re unable to cast apps from their Pixel to the laptop when they’re using the phone’s mobile hotspot functionality. These users have the Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 11 Pro XL, along with the HP and Lenovo Googlebooks. For what it’s worth, one of the requirements for device pairing is that the phone and laptop have to be on the same Wi-Fi network. So we’re guessing that a mobile hotspot might not fit the Wi-Fi requirement.

It’s worth noting that another Android 17 phone I have under embargo seamlessly pairs with my Googlebook. However, not everyone has the privilege of owning two phones, let alone two devices running Android 17. We’re in contact with Google regarding this pairing issue and will update our article as soon as we have more information.

This pairing issue comes a few days after Samsung users found that their phones don’t support cross-device features on Googlebooks. It turns out that Galaxy devices will get this support in the “coming weeks.”