Do you wish it was easy to share files between Android and iPhone? According to Android Authority, a file-sharing service developed for Android devices may ultimately be available on Apple goods.
During the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, Google announced a collaboration with Samsung to launch a new feature dubbed Quick Share, which seeks to make file sharing easier. This functionality provides a consistent way for sharing files between Android smartphones, Chromebooks, and Windows systems, making the procedure more frictionless inside various ecosystems. Imagine AirDrop on Android.
Quick Share has been inaccessible on Apple devices such as the iPhone and Mac since its launch earlier this year. However, it appears that this could alter in the future.
A Google engineer recently offered insights on the company’s “Nearby” repository on GitHub, hinting at the likelihood of Quick Share being launched for Apple devices. The engineer explained that for “iOS and macOS, the device name is already localized and generally works well for Quick Share purposes (i.e., “Niko’s MacBook Pro”), so avoid using the non-localized account name and device type concatenation.”
While the developer did not explicitly confirm that Google intends to extend Quick Share to iPhones and Macs, the inclusion of iOS and macOS here indicates that Google is at least considering bringing the capability across.
So, this is huge news, right? The issue is that Quick Share is quite similar to Apple’s AirDrop, raising concerns about its potential market on Apple devices.
Apple launched AirDrop in 2011, initially allowing simple file transfers between Macs. However, with the release of iOS 7, the service expanded to accommodate additional Apple devices, such as iPhones and iPads. AirDrop allows you to wirelessly share data like photos, movies, contacts, documents, and more to adjacent Apple devices.
Because AirDrop is pre-installed on Apple devices, Quick Share is unlikely to be useful to many of them. However, there may be a market for people who utilize several operating systems. This functionality, for example, may appeal to someone who uses an Android or Windows-based PC for work and an iPhone for personal use. Alternatively, it might make it easier to share files between two people who have an iPhone and an Android phone.
Again, there is no certainty that Quick Share will be available on the iPhone (and if it is, we have no idea when), but it is something to look forward to.
