Google says it has cracked Apple AirDrop, Android users can now share files with iPhone and vice versa
Google has announced that Android devices will now be able to use Apple’s AirDrop to share files with iPhones. The feature will initially debut on the Pixel 10, with support for more devices in the pipeline. The company says Apple was not involved in the process.
For a long time, AirDrop was considered a huge benefit to the Apple ecosystem compared to Android. iPhone users were able to quickly share files between each other while their Android colleagues were left out of the loop. Google had its own Instant Share, but cross-platform compatibility remained a problem. Now, Google has announced that it has finally got AirDrop working on Android, that too without Apple’s help.
In a blog post, Google shared a major update to Quick Share that finally added support to work with Apple’s AirDrop. This update will first work on the Pixel 10 series, and will be rolled out to additional devices later. Users can now seamlessly share photos, documents, and other files between the two operating systems, without relying on third-party apps. According to the tech giant, Android users will be able to share files with iPhone, iPad and even Mac through this feature.
How to use AirDrop on Android?
If you have a Pixel 10 and you want to share a file with your friend who also uses an iPhone, your friend will need to make their iPhone discoverable to anyone over AirDrop. Then the iPhone will appear in Quick Share on the Pixel, you just need to select the device and send the file. The sharing process will work just like any other AirDrop file on iPhone.
If you want to AirDrop from iPhone to your Android, the process is similar. Simply make your Pixel 10 device discoverable to anyone, and this time the iPhone user sends the file via AirDrop.
Google lets AirDrop work on Android without Apple’s help
Now, you might think that this leap forward in cross-platform sharing came as a joint collaboration between Google and Apple. However, Google actually went alone without the help of the Cupertino giant. “We accomplished this through our own implementation,” Google spokesperson Alex Moriconi told The Verge.
Although it seems that Google didn’t actually pitch this idea to Apple. However, the company was open to future collaboration. “We always welcome opportunities for collaboration to address interoperability issues between iOS and Android,” Moriconi said.
Is it safe to use AirDrop with Android?
Google says this feature does not compromise security. The company claims that your data will remain safe and that the system has been tested by “independent security experts.”
The Google security blog post states, “This feature does not use workarounds; the connection is direct and peer-to-peer, meaning your data is never routed through a server, shared content is never logged, and no additional data is shared.”
It’s unclear how Apple will react to Google’s way of using AirDrop on Android. So far, the Cupertino giant has not commented on this development. Furthermore, users will have to wait to know if more Android phone makers will be able to use this feature soon.