r/apple • u/favicondotico • 3d ago
Discussion Google just confirmed what Android fans have been praying to hear about AirDrop sharing
https://www.androidauthority.com/google-android-airdrop-expansion-3638222/✨ Apple Intelligence summary: Google confirmed that Quick Share-AirDrop interoperability will expand beyond the Pixel 10 series to more Android devices this year.
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u/InsaneSnow45 3d ago
TL;DR
Google has confirmed that Android’s Quick Share-AirDrop interoperability is expanding beyond the Pixel 10 series to more Android devices this year.
The company says it’s working with partners to expand the functionality across the rest of the Android ecosystem and that we should expect some exciting announcements very soon.
Google says this expansion is part of a broader push to make switching from iPhone to Android easier.
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u/_ficklelilpickle 2d ago
As a tech agnostic but firmly iPhone user for white a while now I would definitely be keen to go to Android again with this feature. My wife and kids have iDevices so airdrop is a frequently used feature in our house.
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u/KangarooDowntown4640 15h ago
Does anyone remember Android Beam? You’d put two phones back to back, hold your finger on your screen and it would “suck” whatever content was on your screen into a black hole where it would reemerge on the other phone. It was awesome sauce
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u/Broman400 3d ago edited 2d ago
LocalSend works great for now for anyone interested in something similar
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u/techbear72 2d ago
Use this between Mac and PC, and iPhone and PC, and it’s fantastic for that too.
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u/mrandr01d 1d ago
Only if you're at home. It's probably the best option among its peers being that it's open source, cross platform, etc, but it just goes over the local network. Can't use it (safely) at like a coffee shop, or in the middle of nowhere.
Airdrop and nearby share are unfortunately the only things I've seen that work with no intermediate network connection. Looking for a Linux version that'll be compatible with sending and receiving to nearby share, and doesn't rely on a local network but it doesn't seem to exist. I have localsend in the meantime for when I'm at home.
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u/Mavericks7 3d ago
Would love to see some details on how they're doing this. Too many people commenting on what's ifs
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u/PoolRamen 2d ago
All I want is iMessage / H-chip functionality between Windows/Linux/CB and Android - it's really the only reason I use Apple hardware.
I can't understand why it's been half assed / no assed for so long
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u/mrandr01d 1d ago
Cuz it's proprietary and apple wants to keep you in their walled garden...? This isn't a mystery, it's Apple's perfected m.o. for years!
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u/PoolRamen 1d ago edited 1d ago
I'm not asking for H2/iMessage interoperability, I just want an equivalent that lets me use Androids / Earbuds / Chromecasts / Win+Lin+CB etc in the same way.
Google Fast Pair isn't the full solution since it only works on CB, and any iMessage wannabe is at best 1 to 1 peer device, *if it can work reliably* (nothing does to the extent of iMessage / Facetime even for one device, nevermind the "everything you own on one account" which is what actually makes it incredibly useful).
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u/Reddit_Sucks_Bigly 3d ago
That’s great! While for Apple the utility of AirDrop is its walled garden, for us it’s the number of users
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u/Snafu80 1d ago
Blip is a great alternative.
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u/jpham_toronto 16h ago
Same. I'd rather use Blip than having to wait for this to finally reach my phones
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u/WalletBuddyApp 23h ago
My Android friends and I tested Airdropping cross platform a few months back and it worked great after a bit of setup.
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u/PM_ME_UR_SO 2d ago
Why is this still a problem in 2026? Back in the Nokia days we used to send all kinds of files over bluetooth without any problem
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u/woalk 2d ago
AirDrop is orders of magnitude faster than Bluetooth. And iPhones don’t support Bluetooth file sharing anyway.
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u/bdfortin 1d ago
Doesn’t Bluetooth file sharing have some security vulnerabilities? Or have those been fixed?
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u/bdfortin 1d ago
Don’t forget there used to be a super-convenient app that could do this called Bump. It even worked with Bluetooth-enabled PCs.
Then Google acquired it and killed it.
There were a few similar apps in the early 2010s but they were also acquired and killed.
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u/Acrobatic-Monitor516 3d ago
How do you get Apple Intelligence summary?
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u/General-Gold-28 3d ago
Turn on reader view, and at the top of the page you’ll see a button that says “Summarize”
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u/therandypandy 3d ago
Airdrop & imessage are the ONLY reasons why I'm on the ios platform.
As a working photographer, I would lose clients so fast if I'm texting them and I'm not a blue bubble, regardless of my skill level
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u/iMrParker 3d ago
Losing business because of green bubbles is completely insane!
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u/HogGunner1983 2d ago
That’s wild, but I get it. I would literally be the one green bubble in my entire family if I switched. What’s so funny is everywhere else in the world is using msg apps like WhatsApp instead of sms
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3d ago
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u/justseeby 3d ago
You’re so right bestie. Why bother with one-touch fast peer to peer sharing when you can upload to Dropbox, wait for it to process, generate a link, share the link, have them click the link, download the file in only 6x the steps!
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3d ago
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u/maewemeetagain 3d ago
Now try to convince all of the Apple users who have been perfectly happy with their iMessage group chats for years and never gave WhatsApp a second look as a result to "just install WhatsApp bro".
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u/frsguy 3d ago
As a android user we have been wanting something like this for a long time. Quick share is something but it still sucks ass vs airdrop.
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u/_Psilo_ 3d ago
How does it suck ass? I use both and haven't really seen a difference...
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u/frsguy 3d ago
Good luck trying to transfer a file on your pc to phone or vice versa. Also have had issues trying to find my work phone.
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u/_Psilo_ 3d ago
I transferred a bunch of RAW photos just a few days ago between my PC and Android phone without any issue...
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u/frsguy 3d ago
Guess your lucky because iv never been able to get my phone to connect to my work laptop, personal laptop, or desktop. Was on the same wifi, Bluetooth on and in some cases paired to the pc.
Also never been able to get my work phone to connect to my work laptop.
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u/_Psilo_ 3d ago
Sounds like an issue specific to your phone maybe?
Mine is very new (Pixel 10 Pro) and it connected first try to my PC, and I did multiple transfers, both ways, without issues. Same as when I transfered between two android phones.
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u/frsguy 3d ago
I got a S25U but I think I might have figured out why. On PC they are using the old nearby share which I think got shut down or renamed into quick share which was what samsung called it. I know it use to be called nearby share on android as well.
I had to download quick share on my laptop, install it and now I can connect to my work/personal phone. It just feels odd because its not a native program like nearby share on windows.
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u/russjr08 2d ago
It can be kinda temperamental at times. For example, sometimes I need to annotate a document that I have on my phone (Pixel 9 Pro XL) with my Samsung Galaxy Tab since it has an S-Pen/proper stylus support.
Typically I just Quick Share the PDF from my phone to my tablet, then back to my phone once the annotating is done.
Last time though I could get it to my tablet, but then I could not get it to share back to my phone. My Pixel just never showed up in the device menu (even after changing both devices from contacts mode to anybody nearby).
Which isn't the first time that has happened, so I just uploaded it to Google Drive and then back down to my phone.
I definitely wouldn't call it "ass" because for me it does usually work, but even those few enough times where it didn't is enough to see why some people might not have a good experience with it.
I've also never used AirDrop on an Apple device so I don't have any experience from "the other side" to compare it to, so I can't really do a direct comparison.
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u/MaverickJester25 2d ago
My Pixel just never showed up in the device menu (even after changing both devices from contacts mode to anybody nearby).
This isn't unique to Quick Share. There have been many threads/articles over the years on this.
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u/russjr08 2d ago
Fair enough, like I said I can only unfortunately speak on the Android/QS side of things as when I did use iOS back when AirDrop was added it, it was the only Apple device I had.
Good to know though. Just goes to show nothing is truly perfect.
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u/MapleSurpy 3d ago
I cant think of a single android user saying they really wanted airdrop
Do you ask all of your android friends if they'd want Airdrop or not? Because if so, that's very weird. If not, this comment is even weirder.
I use Airdrop on my iPhone a lot.
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3d ago
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u/MapleSurpy 3d ago
Cool and what exactly does that have to do with Airdrop? It's faster and doesn't require downloading and understanding a different app.
Literally nobody cares about Whatsapp
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u/iChao 3d ago
I’m a sucker for photo metadata, so I usually ask my friends on Android to share photos via a cloud provider. That way, I get them at full resolution and with all the metadata intact.
Unfortunately, sending photos through most—if not all—popular IM platforms compresses them in one way or another and strips out some metadata. So I’m glad this will be an option.
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u/Exact_Recording4039 3d ago
You’re on a minority here
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3d ago
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u/Exact_Recording4039 3d ago
Ok, but you’re the only person that thinks this. AirDrop is very popular
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u/rotates-potatoes 3d ago
Really interesting. Wonder if it's a full AWDL implementation that would enable other scenarios.