What you need to knowGoogle announced that Pixel 9 series users can expect to receive their Quick Share, AirDrop compatibility update “over the coming weeks.”This will be a “phased” rollout, meaning not everyone will see this update at the same time; however, users can expect to share content with iPhones, iPads, and macOS.Google first announced its Quick Share, AirDrop team-up last November, signaling another key shift in bridging the gap between Android and iOS devices.
The time that Pixel 9 users have been waiting for is finally here, as Google delivers confirmation that Apple‘s AirDrop is expanding.
Google announced via its Pixel Community forum that it is starting to roll out its Quick Share compatibility with AirDrop update to its 2024 Pixel line. The post confirms that this update is arriving for the Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and the 9 Pro Fold. Unfortunately, Google’s disclaimer says that users with a Pixel 9a will sadly miss out on this compatibility update.
What you can expect is for this update to start arriving for users “over the coming week in phases.” To be specific, not everyone’s going to see this update at once—just keep your eyes open for the update to arrive.
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Google says this update will make it so that Pixel 9 series users can easily share their files with an iPhone, iPad, or a macOS device. This makes it “easy” for you and your friends with Apple products to still share content over Bluetooth. Google makes one thing clear: “Privacy and speed remain a priority.” The company states that it has implemented “multi-layered” protections to help safeguard what you’re sharing.
It’s like RCS, but for sharing
(Image credit: Google)
Late last November, Google announced that Quick Share was teaming up with AirDrop. This compatibility was reported first for the Pixel 10 series, making it easy for those users to swap content between iPhones and more iOS devices. Google stated that users needed to enable acceptance from “Everyone for 10 minutes” before they could begin sharing.
“Strong safeguards” and working with “independent security experts” were mentioned on the security side. Google also confirmed that it would look to expand this functionality to more Android phones, though a timeline wasn’t given.
Earlier this month, Google had more to say about this. It confirmed that Quick Share and AirDrop’s compatibility would arrive on more devices, such as those from Samsung and Nothing. Although there was an Android Canary build that spoiled the company’s work to expand this to the Pixel 9.
Android Central’s Take
This reminds me of the whole RCS thing Google had with Apple. Even Samsung got involved, throwing jabs at Apple for its lack of RCS with Android. While, for RCS, that was purely security-based, and about facilitating a better messaging experience between both sides, this Quick Share, AirDrop thing is more about usability. It’s about bridging that gap between devices. A statement that, just because they run different software, at the end of the day, it’s still a phone. Let me share my photos with my friend, why does it matter if they have an iPhone?