How to Receive Physical Web Notifications in Android

Physical Web is a relatively new technology and allows you to receive the web page content from physical objects instead of the usual web servers. Any physical object having a low energy Bluetooth beacon can transmit these web pages for information, entertainment and other useful things. For example, a dog can have a collar with low energy Bluetooth beacon and can transmit web pages related to information about the dog.

As you pass by the various objects and places equipped with such beacons, your Android phone should display all the notifications from these beacons if you have enabled the Physical Web option in it. From all of these options then you can choose to explore the ones that are most useful for you. Here is how you can enable physical web option in Android:

  1. Install the Google Chrome web browser in Android from Google Play store. If you have already installed it, then make sure that you are using the latest version.
  2. Launch Google Chrome browser, tap on the ellipsis near the top-right and pull down the menu to select Settings from it.Chrome Physical Web
  3. From the settings screen, choose Privacy and then Physical Web.
  4. On the next screen flip on the switch for Physical web. Make sure that you have enabled the Bluetooth in your Android device and then tap on the See What’s Nearby. You should be able to see if there are any web pages are being transmitted by low energy beacons.Chrome Physical Web

Since these web pages are being transmitted by low energy Bluetooth beacons, you have to be in the close vicinity of such beacons. You cannot expect to get any notifications from them if you are standing 10 meters away from them. You have to be within a couple of feet from them to get the notifications or the content that is being offered by them.