You can use your phone to find and interact with people close by. For example, you and your friends can do things like play games or work together in apps that work with Nearby.
Important:
- Some of these steps work only on Android 10 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.
- Some of these steps require you to touch the screen.
What you need
To interact with other people:
- You must be within 30 m or 100 ft from them.
- Both you and the people that you’d like to interact with must have the same app.
- The app that you’d like to collaborate in must work with Nearby.
How Nearby works
When you open an app that works with Nearby, and someone near you has the same app open, your phones will ask if you'd like to connect with each other.
Nearby uses small amounts of Wi-Fi or mobile data to connect to Google and get info about shared apps.
Nearby doesn’t track, monitor or send personal info from your phone. When you give permission, apps that work with Nearby share with each other via remote servers. The sharing devices don’t connect directly.
Check which apps work with Nearby
- Open your phone's Settings app.
- Tap Privacy
Privacy dashboard
- Tap Nearby devices.
- To turn off Nearby notifications from an app, tap the app. Then, under 'Nearby devices access for this app', tap Don't allow.
Privacy dashboard Tip: If you turn off an app’s Nearby notifications, the app will still work on your phone.
Troubleshoot: Check settings and connectivity
- To get Nearby notifications, make sure that your phone is connected to the internet.
- Learn how to check your Wi-Fi network or mobile network connection.
Tip: To learn how a specific app uses Nearby, contact the app's developer.