Google is about to develop AirDrop help to extra Android gadgets

I feel it is truthful to say one of many largest surprises for Android customers final 12 months was Google’s announcement that Android’s Quick Share now works with Apple’s widespread AirDrop function on the Pixel 10 collection. Out of the blue, sharing recordsdata and pictures between Pixel telephones and iPhones turned a lot simpler.

When the Pixel 10 lineup launched final summer time, I do not suppose anybody predicted that certainly one of its standout options would develop into AirDrop interoperability months later — however right here we’re.

Given how fiercely Apple guards its ecosystem, getting Fast Share to play properly with AirDrop was an especially spectacular transfer from Google. The catch, although, is that the function is at the moment unique to the Pixel 10 collection, leaving different Android customers on the skin trying in.

The excellent news? Which may lastly be about to alter.

At a press briefing at Google’s Taipei workplace that Android Authority not too long ago attended, Eric Kay, Android’s Vice President of Engineering, confirmed that AirDrop interoperability will develop to extra Android gadgets in 2026.

“We spent a variety of time and vitality to guarantee that we might construct one thing that was suitable not solely with iPhone however iPads and MacBooks,” Kay mentioned. “Now that we have confirmed it out, we’re working with our companions to develop it into the remainder of the ecosystem, and it’s best to see some thrilling bulletins coming very quickly.”

Fast Share and AirDrop work seamlessly collectively

Qualcomm and Nothing have each confirmed AirDrop help is within the works

Proper now, if you wish to obtain a file from an iPhone utilizing AirDrop on a Pixel 10, you will have to set Fast Share’s visibility to “Everybody for 10 minutes” and ensure it is in obtain mode. As soon as that is completed, your Pixel ought to present up on the iPhone’s AirDrop display.

In fact, it really works the opposite manner round, too. For those who’re sending a file from Fast Share to AirDrop, the iPhone, iPad, or Mac consumer on the opposite finish must set their AirDrop visibility to “Everybody for 10 minutes.” After that, their system ought to seem in your Fast Share menu, and you may share away.

Given how handy this cooperation is for sharing recordsdata between Android and iOS, having it locked to only the Pixel 10 collection is not precisely ultimate, so the truth that it’s increasing to extra Android gadgets quickly may be very welcome. Nonetheless, the writing has been on the wall for fairly a while that this may occur.

In November, when Google first launched AirDrop help on the Pixel 10, Qualcomm rapidly indicated it wished to carry the function to Android telephones with its Snapdragon chips, and Nothing additionally confirmed it was working so as to add AirDrop help to its gadgets as quickly as potential, too.

There’s nonetheless no precise timeline for after we’ll lastly see Fast Share work with AirDrop on all Android gadgets, however with Eric Kay saying bulletins are “coming very quickly,” hopefully meaning we’ll doubtlessly see it within the subsequent couple of months. As a Galaxy S25+ consumer, I am particularly excited to lastly be capable to use Fast Share with AirDrop to rapidly switch pictures and recordsdata to my MacBook.