Google is about to increase AirDrop help to extra Android gadgets

I believe it is truthful to say one of many greatest surprises for Android customers final yr was Google’s announcement that Android’s Quick Share now works with Apple’s common AirDrop function on the Pixel 10 sequence. All of the sudden, sharing recordsdata and photographs between Pixel telephones and iPhones grew to become a lot simpler.

When the Pixel 10 lineup launched final summer season, I do not suppose anybody predicted that one in every 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 a particularly spectacular transfer from Google. The catch, although, is that the function is at present unique to the Pixel 10 sequence, leaving different Android customers on the surface trying in.

The excellent news? That may lastly be about to vary.

At a press briefing at Google’s Taipei workplace that Android Authority just lately attended, Eric Kay, Android’s Vice President of Engineering, confirmed that AirDrop interoperability will increase to extra Android gadgets in 2026.

“We spent numerous time and power to be sure that we might construct one thing that was suitable not solely with iPhone however iPads and MacBooks,” Kay stated. “Now that we have confirmed it out, we’re working with our companions to increase 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 carried out, your Pixel ought to present up on the iPhone’s AirDrop display screen.

After all, it really works the opposite approach 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’ll share away.

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

In November, when Google first launched AirDrop help on the Pixel 10, Qualcomm rapidly indicated it needed to convey 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 doable, too.

There’s nonetheless no precise timeline for once 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 probably see it within the subsequent couple of months. As a Galaxy S25+ consumer, I am particularly excited to lastly be capable of use Fast Share with AirDrop to rapidly switch photographs and recordsdata to my MacBook.