{"id":275748,"date":"2025-11-21T16:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/275748\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T16:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:59:10","slug":"google-just-went-rogue-with-airdrop-and-im-loving-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/275748\/","title":{"rendered":"Google just went rogue with AirDrop, and I’m loving it!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thank you, thank you so very much, Google! If there was one feature I was truly manifesting for my Pixel 10 Pro (or any Android phone for that matter), it was proper AirDrop support<\/a> between iPhones, Android devices, Macs, and iPads<\/a>. As someone who works for an Android website yet also nibbles on the forbidden fruit, I have shed actual tears trying to move files between my Android phone, MacBook, and iPhone. I\u2019m WhatsApping images to myself like it\u2019s 2015, emailing documents like it\u2019s 2007, digging out cables like I\u2019m on a treasure hunt, all for something as basic as transferring files.<\/p>\n

If it were up to Apple, I and many others like me might never have seen this day. But thanks to Google going delightfully rogue and doing one of the coolest things for Android this year, my hacky file-transfer misery might finally be behind me\u2026 at least until Apple decides this tiny moment of cross-platform joy has gone on long enough.<\/p>\n

Do you think Apple will try to block AirDrop on the Pixel 10?<\/p>\n

1365 votes<\/p>\n

Of course. Apple still hasn’t outgrown its “doesn’t play well with others” phase.<\/p>\n

33%<\/p>\n

Yes, but it will frame it as a “security upgrade” that just happens to break Android support.<\/p>\n

47%<\/p>\n

Maybe, and it will depend on how Apple users react to the news.<\/p>\n

10%<\/p>\n

Nah. Apple’s got more important things to care about than what Android’s up to.<\/p>\n

10%<\/p>\n

How Google went rogue, and why I love it<\/p>\n

\"Quick<\/p>\n

Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Google has won me over completely. Not only is the move to make Android and Apple devices play nice with each other for AirDrop-style file transfers a massive win for users on both sides of the ecosystem wall, but doing it without any help whatsoever from Apple is the kind of gutsy throwback energy I was missing from Google\u2019s \u201cdon\u2019t be evil\u201d era. It smells oh so delightfully of consumer-choice freedom.<\/p>\n

What makes the whole thing even better is that Google didn\u2019t sneak this in through some hacky loophole or backdoor. No, the company marched up to the wall Apple built around AirDrop, found the door that says \u201cEveryone for 10 minutes,\u201d and just opened it. The result is a totally legit, fully supported solution that allows Android and iOS devices to beam files to each other<\/a> directly, wirelessly, and securely.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s security blog post<\/a> reads like a love letter to interoperability and cross-platform file transfer, with a subtle dig at Apple\u2019s walled-garden mentality. \u201cTechnology should bring people closer together, not create walls,\u201d Google wrote. I\u2019m reading this as: \u201cWe\u2019re tired of waiting for Apple to realize that mixed-device households actually exist in reality.\u201d Because I am proof that people can love Android phones and iPhones at the same time. It\u2019s not a crime.<\/p>\n

I am proof that people can love Android phones and iPhones at the same time. It’s not a crime.<\/p>\n

Google built this entire AirDrop bridge on its own terms, without Apple\u2019s help. The company told Android Authority<\/a> in a statement that it accomplished this through its own implementation, wrapped it in layers of security, and tested it with independent experts. And it works seamlessly. It\u2019s a clean, peer-to-peer, device-to-device handshake that doesn\u2019t break any rules and still gives users what they want.<\/p>\n

This is Google going above and beyond, the Google I sorely missed. Not only did they build the bridge without telling anyone, but they also ensured it was solid. Apple will surely have a hard time convincing anyone that this isn\u2019t exactly what consumers deserve or need.<\/p>\n

Google openly says this is \u201cjust the first step,\u201d and that it \u201cwelcomes the opportunity\u201d for Apple to collaborate on supporting \u201cContacts Only\u201d AirDrop mode someday. It\u2019s Google\u2019s polite way of saying it has done its part and that the onus is now on Apple to make file transfer between Android and Apple devices painless. Will Apple oblige? That\u2019s a whole different story.<\/p>\n

Will Apple kill Pixel\u2019s new Airdrop trick \u2014 or does it finally have to play nice?<\/p>\n

\"Pixel<\/p>\n

Adamya Sharma \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

If all of this feels like deja vu, you\u2019re not imagining it. We\u2019ve been here before. First with unknown tracker alerts<\/a> to a certain extent, then with USB-C<\/a>, followed by RCS<\/a>, and now, somehow, with AirDrop. Every time Apple insists on its my-way-or-highway approach, the universe, and usually, Google and the European Union, step in.<\/p>\n

The European Union\u2019s Digital Markets Act (DMA) has been quietly reshaping the smartphone industry over the past few years. It\u2019s the same regulation that pushed Apple towards a more open App Store, more flexible browser rules, and more interoperable messaging and connectivity. So it\u2019s impossible to talk about this new Quick Share-AirDrop crossover without acknowledging the EU\u2019s role in it all.<\/p>\n

Google didn’t say that the EU forced its hand to make Quick Share and AirDrop play nice with each other.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s what makes the timing so interesting. Google didn\u2019t say that the EU forced its hand to make Quick Share and AirDrop play nice with each other. In fact, Google doesn\u2019t even mention the DMA at all in its announcement.<\/p>\n

Still, when you zoom out and see the bigger picture, you\u2019ll understand why this is only happening now. The DMA has been steadily pulling down Apple\u2019s guarded ecosystems in consumer interest, and file sharing was always going to be next on the list. We don\u2019t know if Google was nudged by the same forces, but this moment in tech history is very much part of a larger shift that was already underway.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s beloved proprietary tech that powers AirDrop \u2014 AWDL (Apple Wireless Direct Link) \u2014 soon won\u2019t be the only protocol used by iPhones for nearby sharing. Under the DMA, Apple is being forced to adopt the industry-standard Wi-Fi Aware protocol instead of, or on top of, AWDL. It could keep AirDrop proprietary, which is our understanding of what happened, but it has to support the more universal protocol, too.<\/p>\n

The EU\u2019s interoperability roadmap<\/a> states that Apple must support Wi-Fi Aware 4.0 by iOS 19 (now called iOS 26) and Wi-Fi Aware 5.0 shortly after. In fact, Wi-Fi Aware was also developed with significant input from Apple and is actually built on the idea of AWDL, even if the two are not interoperable. Since Apple can\u2019t make Wi-Fi Aware exclusive, iPhones and Android devices will speak the same language for proximity-based file sharing sooner or later.<\/p>\n

It’s now Apple’s turn to extend a hand in good faith.<\/p>\n

That means that, Quick Share or not, the AWDL protocol that had kept AirDrop exclusive so far may not matter soon enough because other solutions using Wi-Fi Aware would spring in its place. It looks like Google just seized the moment while Apple was being pushed toward cross-platform file transfer by the EU anyway and decided to slip into AirDrop\u2019s backdoor without asking nicely.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know how Cupertino will react to Google\u2019s coup. The Apple camp is eerily and uncomfortably silent right now. But I, and many people like me, couldn\u2019t be happier that Android phones have started sharing sweet nothings with iPhones and vice versa. Google has certainly jumped ahead of the curve. It\u2019s now Apple\u2019s turn to extend a hand in good faith and to do what\u2019s right for its users.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority?<\/p>\n

\"google\"google<\/a><\/p>\n

Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thank you, thank you so very much, Google! If there was one feature I was truly manifesting for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[304,112966,844,1632,2306,112967,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-275748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-apple","9":"tag-apple-airdrop","10":"tag-google","11":"tag-google-pixel-10","12":"tag-mobile","13":"tag-quick-share","14":"tag-technology","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}