AirDrop comes to Google’s Pixel 10 family (sort of)

Back in early 2024, Google sort of merged its AirDrop-like “Nearby Share” with Samsung’s own AirDrop clone “Quick Share.” It gives Android phones the ability to directly share photos, videos, links, contacts, and other info on a direct peer-to-peer connection, just like AirDrop does. But it only works with Android phones. Until now.

Google has announced that Quick Share will now work with AirDrop, and is rolling the feature out to Pixel 10 devices. The post makes it clear that Google is “looking forward to improving the experience and expanding it to more Android devices.”

Google has an entire page devoted to the security of this feature, where it notes that this is not a hack or workaround: your data is sent directly peer-to-peer and never goes through a server. This new capability relies on AirDrop’s more open “Everyone for 10 minutes” mode, which means if you want to share between your iPhone and a Pixel 10 device, you’ll need to first open Settings > General > AirDrop and select Everyone for 10 Minutes.

Of this limitation, the page says, “We welcome the opportunity to work with Apple to enable “Contacts Only” mode in the future.” While I think that would be great, I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple found a way to shut down this current compatibility in a software update until eventually forced by some regulatory body into enabling broadly capable direct transfers. So enjoy it while it lasts.