Google Working on AirDrop Clone for Android

Google is working on a new AirDrop clone for Android. The new feature, called Fast Share, will allow users to quickly share data from their phone to nearby Android devices without needing to have an internet connection.

For those unfamiliar, Apple made the feature popular with iPhone’s AirDrop feature that lets you share photos, files, and websites from your iPhone to nearby iPhones and Macs without needing to have an internet connection. Microsoft later implemented a similar feature on Windows 10 called Nearby Sharing that allowed for the same between Windows 10 devices, though Microsoft’s implementation is arguably quite unreliable.

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

And now, it’s Google’s turn. The new Fast Share feature allows you to quickly share photos, files, text, and links to nearby Android devices, and supposedly even Chromebooks, according to 9to5Google. Here’s the twist, though: Fast Share will also apparently work with iPhones, which would be a huge deal if it works with AirDrop.

The feature is implemented pretty well from the looks of things, though it’s not clear exactly how Google plans to make this new feature available to Android users. Either way, Android has needed a first-party implementation for this from Google for a long time, and the AirDrop support could make it actually popular.

Tagged with

Share post

Please check our Community Guidelines before commenting

Conversation 7 comments

  • shmuelie

    Premium Member
    01 July, 2019 - 4:12 pm

    <p class="ql-indent-1"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Microsoft later implemented a similar feature on Windows 10 called Nearby Sharing that allowed for the same between Windows 10 devices, though Microsoft’s implementation is arguably quite unreliable.</span></p><p class="ql-indent-1"><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">By what standard? And being Windows 10 only how often does anyone use it anyways?</span></p>

  • lvthunder

    Premium Member
    01 July, 2019 - 4:35 pm

    <p>I wish AirDrop worked for Windows or Nearby Sharing worked on iOS.</p>

  • ponsaelius

    01 July, 2019 - 5:26 pm

    <p>Microsoft sharing will be great for Windowsphone users. Oh wait there aren't any devices to share with after Microsoft abandoned consumer products….</p>

  • dcdevito

    01 July, 2019 - 7:19 pm

    <p>If it works with iPhones that means it must be utilized via an app – so that's already a non starter for iOS compatibility. </p>

  • fraXis

    Premium Member
    01 July, 2019 - 10:00 pm

    <p>People often mention iMessage as the reason they can't leave the iOS ecosystem, but for me it's a combination of both iMessage and AirDrop. It is so easy to use in regards to sharing with anyone, including strangers.</p><p><br></p>

  • dontbe evil

    02 July, 2019 - 7:02 am

    <p>apple worked on a bluetooth file transfer clone</p>

  • Alain Sylvestre

    08 July, 2019 - 5:04 pm

    <p>Samsung has already that kind of transfert back in years, using NFC. Way befor Apple. Remember in 2011 youtu.be/cwU4TvQEq0g</p>

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Thurrott © 2024 Thurrott LLC