I’ve dabbled in the world of Android for years – 2012’s HTC One XL was one of the first Android phones I truly fell in love with, even as everyone around me was fawning over the iPhone 4S.
That’s all well and good – competition drives innovation, after all – but there were a few issues when trying to communicate with my Apple-based brethren, especially in the early days.
These ranged from small issues like not having access to iMessage, which had launched to much fanfare the year before, to bigger issues like not being able to send photos and videos without relying on a third-party app like WhatsApp or Google Drive.
While using those apps was an acceptable workaround, it couldn’t exactly compete with the AirDrop experience that iPhone owners had – and still do have in 2025. They simply share the image or video they want via the built-in sharing protocol, and the files automatically appear in the recipients’ Photos app thereafter.
It’s easy to use, and crucially, doesn’t rely on an internet connection, so share times are always rapid – especially helpful when sharing large videos.
Android phone makers like Oppo, OnePlus and Honor have tried various workarounds to make cross-platform local sharing a reality, but these always come with compromises.
Not Google though; the company has done the impossible and found a way to use Quick Share with Apple’s AirDrop, no clunky apps or workarounds required. And I can’t quite believe it.
The awkward Android workaround
As mentioned, there have been efforts to bridge the gap between iPhone and Android users when it comes to easily sharing content, with Chinese companies like Oppo and Honor usually leading the charge.
Regardless of whether you have an Oppo, OnePlus or Honor-branded phone, the process is pretty similar – but there’s a catch. They don’t work natively with Apple’s AirDrop functionality. Instead, they alll require a third-party app to be installed on the user’s iPhone beforehand.
Once installed, the app works much like AirDrop would on an iPhone, using local transfer rather than uploading and downloading via the internet.
But even with similar functionality on offer, getting an iPhone owner to download a dedicated app for sharing is easily the biggest hurdle for Android users. It relies on someone installing an app when, in reality, they could just get the sender to share the file via other means – messaging app, cloud storage, etc – without the faff of downloading and setting up a dedicated app.
So yes, the idea is great in theory, but the reality unfortunately doesn’t reflect that.
That’s why Google’s upgraded Quick Share tech is so exciting; it doesn’t require any additional downloads, either on the Android side or the iPhone side. As Apple itself would say, it just works.
Pixels can now easily share photos, videos and more with iPhone owners
As announced by the Big G itself, Android users can finally transfer files via Quick Share with iPhone owners. The company says that the tech is designed with ‘security at its core’, protecting the data you’re sharing with safeguards that security experts have independently validated.
The process doesn’t change in any form either; it’s still the same Quick Share experience that Android users are familiar with – with the exception that iPhones will now pop up in the nearby devices section.
Once an Android user initiates the sharing process, it’ll appear as an AirDrop request on the selected iPhone. The iPhone owner just needs to accept the request, as usual, with the shared file appearing on-screen soon after. It’s the real deal, folks.
Importantly, it also works the other way around; Android devices should appear as options when iPhone owners try to share via AirDrop.
There is a big catch here though – there’s always one, right? Google has, for now, limited the rollout of the upgraded Quick Share tech to its flagship Pixel 10 collection – not even older Pixel devices can get in on the fun just yet, let alone Android phones from other manufacturers.
A wider rollout can’t come quickly enough
As somebody who flits between phones on a weekly basis, that news is bittersweet. While I’m chuffed that Google has finally cracked the code and figured out how to integrate AirDrop into its Quick Share tech, keeping it exclusive to its own flagship smartphone range feels frustrating.
Yes, Google has to keep interest in its flagship product range high, I get it – but it’s also the creator of the Android operating system in general. It has a moral obligation, if nothing else, to get this tech in the hands of as many Android users as possible.
That said, the company has confirmed that it’ll be “expanding it to more Android devices” at some point. There’s no timeline on when or which devices, but there’s every chance that by this time next year, we’ll all be able to share files with each other, regardless of operating system.
Those walled gardens are finally breaking down.
