Google has announced that Chrome for Android will soon support Physical Web and Eddystone beacons, months after the test had begun for the iOS Chrome app.
The expansion will enable the Android devices to see and interact with BLE beacons nearby and in public places like streets, airports, stadiums etc. Chrome beta users will be the first ones to test it out followed by a roll out to all users soon.
Here’s the original post from Google:
Now, Physical Web developers can reach Chrome for Android users as well, starting with the Beta channel and rolling out more widely soon. When these users walk by a beacon for the first time, they’ll receive a notification allowing them to enable the Physical Web. On future encounters with beacons, users can quickly see a list of nearby URLs by tapping on a non-vibrating notification waiting for them.
Developers can make their web content discoverable on the Physical Web by configuring an Eddystone-supported beacon to broadcast a URL of their choice with the Eddystone-URL frame type. Now that the Physical Web is tightly integrated into Chrome for Android, a single deployment can deliver contextual information to Chrome users across multiple mobile platforms.
– Read more here: http://blog.chromium.org/2016/02/the-physical-web-expands-to-chrome-for_10.html