HP Print Service Plugin

Review by eFreeware

Most printing apps ask you to work inside them: open the file, pick a printer, tap through a preview. The HP Print Service Plugin takes the opposite approach. It sits in the background as a print driver, so the option to print appears inside the apps you already use rather than in a separate destination. That is the distinctive part, and it is the reason this plugin has become such a common presence on Android devices.

It is made by HP Inc. and offered free of charge, with no ads and no in-app purchases attached. The developer describes it as the only print driver needed to send documents, emails and pictures from apps that support printing to a spread of HP hardware. If you own an HP printer and want your phone or tablet to handle the job without a detour through a computer, this is the piece that makes that work.

How printing actually works

The plugin does not present itself as a place you visit. Instead, when you are looking at something you want to print, you use the Print option or the Share menu and choose the plugin as the destination. From there the file goes to the printer. The exact spot for that menu button shifts depending on which Android device you carry, which is a small thing but worth expecting if you have hunted for it before on a phone with an unusual layout.

What you can send is broad in type but narrow in source. Documents, emails and photos are all fair game, provided the app you are viewing them in supports printing at all. That last condition matters: the plugin routes print jobs, it does not manufacture the option inside apps that never offered it. In practice this means the apps you already read mail and open files in are the ones that benefit.

Because the plugin works as a driver rather than a document manager, there is nothing to organize and no library to build. You print, and the job is done. For a utility of this sort that restraint is the point.

Finding the printer: three routes

The plugin can discover and print to HP printers over three different connection types, and the variety is what makes it useful across different homes and offices. The first is straightforward: a printer sharing the same network as your mobile device. If both are on the same Wi-Fi, the plugin should see the printer and offer it.

The second route is Wi-Fi Direct, for printers that broadcast their own network. That is handy when there is no shared network to join, or when the printer sits on a separate one. The third is a USB On-the-Go cable running from the phone or tablet to the printer. Between the three, the plugin covers the common ways an HP printer and an Android device can be brought together, and you are not locked into a single setup.

The range of hardware it addresses is wide. OfficeJet, LaserJet, DesignJet, Photosmart, DeskJet and Envy models are all named as supported. That spread runs from everyday home machines to large-format and office equipment, so the plugin is not tied to one tier of printer. For a fuller list of supported models, the developer points to a support page.

What your device needs

The plugin is built for Android 5.0 Lollipop and newer, which covers the overwhelming majority of phones and tablets in circulation. If you are on Android 6 Marshmallow or an earlier release, you may need to switch the plugin on in your device settings before it will work. That is a one-time step rather than an ongoing chore, but it is the sort of thing that can make the plugin look broken when it is simply waiting to be enabled.

The connection requirement is the other practical consideration. A printer on the same network, a Wi-Fi Direct signal or a USB cable is needed for any of this to function. The plugin is not a way around a printer that is switched off or out of reach.

The plugin is free, carries no advertising and offers no in-app purchases, so there is no paid tier to weigh against a free one. What you see is what the developer provides. The most recent update, from June 2026, is described simply as reliability and performance improvements, which is typical housekeeping for a driver that has to keep pace with Android releases.

A long track record

This plugin has been available since May 2013, which makes it one of the older pieces of Android software still doing the rounds. Over that time it has accumulated more than a billion installs and a 4.1 average from over three million ratings. Those numbers say less about polish than about reach: a print driver ends up on a great many devices, not because people seek it out.

That context is useful when reading the rating. A utility like this is noticed mainly when something goes wrong, so a 4.1 across such a large pool is a reasonable signal. It is also a reminder that this is infrastructure rather than a product with fans. You install it, it does its job in the background, and you forget it is there.

Suited to HP owners who print from the phone

The clearest fit is anyone with an HP printer who wants to print from an Android phone or tablet without opening a laptop. Boarding passes, return labels, school forms, a photo for the fridge: the plugin is the layer that turns a print-supported app into a printing app. If that describes your setup, the plugin is the practical answer, and the three connection routes mean it can adapt to how your printer is wired up.

It is also a sensible addition for a household where several people print to the same machine. Each device gets the same capability. The plugin stays out of the way until the moment it is needed.

Where it is less relevant is equally clear from what it is. It is a driver for HP printers, so its usefulness depends on owning one of the supported models. Someone with a printer from another manufacturer, or someone who prints so rarely that a trip to a copy shop is easier, has little reason to keep it around. That is not a flaw in the plugin; it is simply the shape of the tool.

The case for installing it

The HP Print Service Plugin is a free, ad-free utility that does one job and does it in the least intrusive way available: it adds printing to the apps you already use, over whichever of the three connection methods suits your setup. It supports a broad spread of HP printers, runs on Android 5.0 and newer, and has been kept current through mid-2026. For an HP owner on Android, there is little to deliberate over.

The caveats are the ones the tool itself implies. You need an HP printer, one of the supported connection types, and on older Android versions a trip into settings to enable it. The plugin will not print to hardware it does not support, and it will not add a print option to an app that never had one.

If you have an HP printer and print from your phone at all, install it and treat it as plumbing. If you do not, there is nothing here for you, and that is fine. It is a narrow tool that serves its narrow purpose well.

What's new in version 23.2.6.3182

• Reliability and performance improvements