Chrome to phone: instant push to your Android device

September 9, 2010 8:54 pm

Categories: Gadgets News Tags: Android, chrome, froyo, Google, phone

Chrome to phone is an Android app add-on, which pushes a URL directly from your browser to your device. It works through an app, and is gobsmackingly fast. Its integration with existing Google services is seamless too…

So, for example, Google the phone number of a restaurant. highlight the restaurant, and click the add on Chrome to phone icon in your browser, and it’ll push that phone number to your device, ready for one click to place the call.

Use it with Google Maps and it will push the entire map, with any routes or locations mapped too. If you push a YouTube site, the video will start up within seconds of you pushing the site from Chrome to your device.

The app syncs from your Chrome browser to your Android device through your Google Account log in.

Today, Chrome to phone only works on Android, and requires Android Froyo 2.2 – it won’t run on Android Eclair 2.1. When asked about whether the app would be coming to other platforms, Google said: “We would like to bring it to other platforms we just need to work out the best way to do it.”

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novak84

love chrometophone but seems to put a huge drain on the battery

Peterpiper

if you knew anything about android and the way it works, then you'd know that you'd struggle to measure the battery effect of chrometophone, let along notice actual battery draining.

novak84

I think you will find any app that is “listening” using your data connection is going to take up battery resource, or do you not understand that you tool?

Peterpiper

Hmm, so Google who understand nothing about mobile operating systems make a push api that drains battery life, to upset idiots like you. Make perfect sense. Go read the technical docs and look at the implementation dullard.

novak84

So an application that is probably sending a pulse out every 10 seconds via the data connection is not going to use more battery …………….Are you on medication?
Peterpiper

If it uses existing connections, then the load is no different than if it wasn't there.
novak84

Tell me wise one, why do people turn off most apps that want to synch using a data connection?

…………let me take a wild stab in the dark, would it be to do with battery by any chance?
Peterpiper

You're getting a bit confused here. Connections use battery fact. Using Cloud to device messaging (C2DM) doesn't increase the battery usage significantly to the point where it 'drains' your battery. Any draining would have happened anyway. C2DM doesn't poll, its a push system, which means that if there are no messages for your device, then nothing happens … hence no battery drain. If your device is inactive – the google servers know this and messages don't get sent. The Google infrastructure knows when your device is online so its capable of only sending data to the device while its awake and is already using the network connections for other purposes, which means that you don't get additional penalties for using C2DM.
novak84

I think you are taking the term “drain” to the extreme. It is a fact that if you turn off any device, application that uses push technology, your battery will run for a great deal longer.

I am not going off technology bollocks that companies pump out, my knowledge is built on experience of using the devices, do a test, run your android for a couple of days with your normal connection/syncing schedule. Install chrometophone and tell me that you battery runs at the same level.

For you to say push technology doesn't impact battery is utter crap.
Peterpiper

You win, your argument makes perfect sense.
novak84

One point i think you are missing is, if like me and probably most other uses, you have most of your syncing turned off to save on battery, chrometophone is sat listening waiting for a msg from the server, try it on your device.

Chrome to phone: instant push to your Android device

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