Baton brings Apple-like Handoff feature to CyanogenMod, signup for private beta here
As more and more Android users are finding themselves living in a multiple device world — tablets, smartwatches, smartphones — it’s getting increasingly more difficult to manage all the apps and data between these devices. While cloud save data is one way to tackle this problem, a new feature coming soon to Cyanogen in private beta is making this easier than ever before.
It’s called Baton and it was birthed out of the CodeMobile conference from a new startup — comprised of ex-Google, Apple, Dropbox and Amazon minds — called Nextbit. Simply put, Baton allows users to share data between devices, handing off current progress inside an app from a smartphone to a tablet (or vice versa). It’s very similar to the way Apple’s Handoff feature works, only this doesn’t require any extra coding from developers — it just works. Here’s the quick feature set:
- Sync: Keeps apps and data in sync across multiple devices, allowing users to move fluidly from one device to the next without missing a beat.
- Pass: Send any open app in its current state to another device, saving time and eliminating the tedious process of manually finding, downloading, and opening apps on different devices.
- Backup and restore: Save apps and data to your Nextbit profile in the cloud, so you can always get your apps back on any device.
While certainly cool, Baton will only available to devices running CyanogenMod but users will need to apply on Nextbit’s site if they want in on the beta. While Cyanogen Inc is just the first step in Nextbit’s plans for Baton, they weren’t ready to reveal plans to support other devices (or ROMs) just yet.