Copy that: Android 17 may add a ‘Universal Clipboard’ for Android PCs

Android has a built-in clipboard that makes copying and pasting text or images in your favorite apps easy, but its contents aren’t automatically synced across your devices. This means that transferring copied content between Android devices currently requires a third-party tool. Fortunately, that could change in next year’s Android 17 update, as we’ve spotted evidence that Google is working on a ‘Universal Clipboard’ feature.

You’re reading the Authority Insights Newsletter, a weekly newsletter that reveals some new facet of Android that hasn’t been reported on anywhere else. If you’re looking for the latest scoops, the hottest leaks, and breaking news on Google’s Android operating system and other mobile tech topics, then we’ve got you covered.

Subscribe here to get this post delivered to your email inbox every Saturday.

How does Android’s clipboard work?

Although most users interact with Android’s clipboard through keyboard apps like Gboard, the clipboard is actually a system service. Any app can access it via Android’s ClipboardManager API, but Google has tightened security over time. Android 10 introduced restrictions ensuring only the default keyboard or the app currently in focus can read the clipboard. Android 13 went further, automatically clearing clipboard history after an hour and alerting you whenever an app accesses it. These measures are crucial for user safety, given how often people copy sensitive data like passwords and addresses.

These background restrictions explain why syncing the clipboard between a Pixel and a Windows PC requires setting SwiftKey as your default keyboard. Because Microsoft owns SwiftKey, it can build clipboard syncing directly into the keyboard app itself. Some other Android phones can sync their clipboards with Windows PCs even without SwiftKey, but only because they include a preinstalled system utility. This utility leverages a system-only permission to bypass background restrictions, feeding clipboard data to Microsoft’s Phone Link app to stream it to your PC.

Google could implement a similar solution to sync clipboards between Android phones and Chromebooks, likely via Play Services. It is unclear why it hasn’t done so yet, but with the company’s focus shifting toward “Android PCs,” cross-device features seem to be a renewed priority. We’ve already seen evidence that Google is working on an Android version of Apple’s Handoff. However, Apple’s implementation does more than just let you pick up apps where you left off; it also includes Universal Clipboard, allowing you to copy text or media on one device and paste it instantly onto another.

To achieve parity with Apple’s Handoff, Google is developing its own version of Universal Clipboard for Android. The company is currently using that exact name internally, though it remains unclear if the final marketing name will change. While we can’t confirm every detail, the evidence we have allows us to make some educated guesses about how it functions.

In the latest Android beta and canary releases, Google added a new UniversalClipboardManager class under the android.companion.datatransfer.continuity path, where other in-development Handoff features reside. This class defines a new system service of the same name, though it doesn’t yet contain the full implementation. We expect Google Play Services will eventually expose an option to sync the clipboard within the Handoff settings for linked Android devices.

The current options in the in-development “Handoff” menu in Google Play Services.

On Pixel devices, Google Play Services likely won’t read the clipboard directly. Instead, the Pixel System Service app (com.google.android.pixelsystemservice) handles that task. It requests the READ_CLIPBOARD_IN_BACKGROUND permission and monitors for content changes. When the clipboard updates, the service checks the data type. Currently, the code suggests it ignores non-text data — a notable downgrade compared to Apple’s implementation. If it detects text, it fires a broadcast to Google Play Services, which presumably transmits the data to connected devices via the Handoff framework.

According to my colleague AssembleDebug, this receiver first appeared in Play Services back in November of last year, so Google has clearly been working on this for some time. Notably, it is tagged as part of the “Continuity” module — the same component powering other Handoff features — which effectively ties the whole system together.

So, in summary, here’s a high-level overview of how Android’s Universal Clipboard likely works:

1. You copy some text on your Pixel phone.
2. The Pixel System Service app detects the change to the clipboard.
3. Pixel System Service broadcasts this change to Google Play Services.
4. Google Play Services receives this broadcast.
5. Google Play Services’ Continuity module takes the copied text and sends it to your linked PC.

This process should work in reverse, provided Google implements a background clipboard listener on Android PCs. While it could also extend to other devices like tablets, we suspect Google’s primary focus here is the PC form factor. We’ll have to wait to confirm this, though, as Google likely won’t reveal these Handoff features until its “Android on PC” initiative is fully detailed. However, given the timing and significance of these discoveries, we expect these features to arrive with next year’s Android 17 update.

Whatever the case, we’re excited to see Android expand to PCs and for Google to finally build the kind of cross-device features Apple users have enjoyed for years. Seamless integration is a major factor keeping users locked into the Apple ecosystem; if Google wants to retain its user base, it needs to offer similar capabilities. The key difference, of course, is that the Android ecosystem offers far more hardware freedom.

Want more?

Authority Insights is more than a newsletter — it’s the hub for all our best content. If you care about Android, you won’t want to miss any of our other exclusive reports.

Don’t have time to read them all? Subscribe to our Authority Insights Podcast to hear me and my co-host, C. Scott Brown, break down our top stories of the week.