Google wants to give third-party apps access to the Pixel 6 Pro's ultra-wideband chip

Developers might also be able to use the chip on Samsung phones

Ultra-wideband (UWB) is considered the next big thing in the world of connectivity, as it offers high-speed peer-to-peer data transfer and precise indoor positioning, thereby opening the door to a world of new possibilities. So far, Apple has been the leader in its adoption, with all iPhone models launched over the last few years featuring a UWB chip. The Pixel 6 Pro also comes with ultra-wideband, though for now, Google only uses it in Nearby Share to quickly find and send data to nearby compatible devices. In a bid to further push ultra-wideband adoption, the company is working on a public UWB API that can be used by third-party apps requiring precise positioning.

As shared by Mishaal Rahman on Twitter, the API can allow apps that rely on precise positioning data to offer new features. It can also let tracking tags share more precise indoor location data with supported phones as Apple does with the AirTag and iPhone — and Tile already has compatible UWB trackers in the works. Compatible devices will have to declare API support using 'android.hardware.uwb' so that third-party apps can use it. Samsung phones like the Galaxy Note20 Ultra, Z Fold3, and the S21 Ultra already feature ultra-wideband, too, but the company uses a custom implementation ('samsung.hardware.uwb') and it is unclear if its implementation will be compatible with Google's third-party UWB API or not.

Additionally, a job posting from Google on LinkedIn for a software engineer to work on Android's ultra-wideband stack also mentions maintaining a Wear OS UWB stack. Currently, there are no Wear OS smartwatches featuring an ultra-wideband chip, but it looks like that could change in the future.

Later this year, Google will be using UWB to turn your phone into a digital car key. This will allow you to unlock your vehicle without having to take your phone out of your pocket, and it will make it easy to share the car keys with your friends and family. This only seems to be the beginning, though, as we could see UWB being used for more innovative use cases in the future.

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