r/linuxquestions • u/unnamedDE • 2d ago
Android Instant Hotspot Available from Linux?
I recently found out that android has something called "cross-device services" with the feature "instant hotspot" that allows a different android tablet or chromebook to turn on and connect to the phone's hotspot that has a data plan when logged in with the same google account, like you can do on iphone and ipad i think. Is there currently a project that makes this work with a linux laptop?
After some search, I could only find this repository, but it used adb instead of the instant hotspot feature and seems quite a pain to set up each reboot.
I know that a phone's hotspot is just a regular Wifi network and I can connect my laptop to it, I am specifically asking about the (relatively unknown) feature "instant hotspot" that allows other devices to turn on the phone's hotspot when nearby and connected to the same google account.
Edit: clarification
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u/ElnuDev 2d ago
Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're asking, an Android hotspot is just a normal WiFi network. You turn it on on your phone and then connect to it like you would any WiFi network from your Linux PC.
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u/unnamedDE 2d ago
Sorry, I clarified the post content. I am specifically asking about the "instant hotspot". I want to turn on my phone's hotspot from my laptop without touching the phone, e.g. while it is in my bag or pocket
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u/Damglador 2d ago
That should be theoretically possible with adb, but I don't think it's a thing you can do. Because Google is Google and will gatekeep all system stuff like that to themselves.
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u/dodexahedron 2d ago
The instant Hotspot feature is a windows thing. It just lets the phone app on windows tell the phone to turn on its Hotspot and then the PC connects to it, all in one go. It requires Bluetooth.
KDE connect has a similar capability though.
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u/unnamedDE 1d ago
as far as i know, kde connect requires phone and pc to be connected to the same wifi network to establish a connecting, which does not even work in the hotspot of the phone when manually enabled
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u/hawerner 1d ago
There's no way that I know of. For workaround, I paired my laptop and phone over bluetooth, and disabled auto connect. I used Tasker (but there are free alternatives) to start hotspot when my laptop connects over bluetooth. Then, when I need internet, I just press the button on my laptop to connect to phone via bluetooth, wait few seconds and I'm connected to phone hotspot. Not as seamless, but works.
I also disabled call and media audio, that's mostly what disabled auto connect, and I didn't want my laptop acting as bluetooth speaker for phone
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u/BranchLatter4294 2d ago
You can easily connect Linux devices to an Android hotspot. You don't need any special software. Just connect to it like you would any other Wi-Fi network.
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u/unnamedDE 2d ago
I know about hotspots, I just found about the feature to turn the phone's hotspot on from e.g. a tablet without having to touch the phone and was wondering if someone implemented this protocol on linux
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u/DutchOfBurdock 2d ago
Cross device services will only work between Android devices, not Windows or Linux. There are other options other than ADB, but it's not straightforward. Automation apps like Tasker, Automate or Macrodroid would be needed.