{"id":280553,"date":"2025-11-24T12:27:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T12:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/280553\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T12:27:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T12:27:05","slug":"quick-share-airdrop-gets-qualcomm-backing-leaving-old-pixels-out-in-the-cold-but-for-how-long","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/280553\/","title":{"rendered":"Quick Share\/AirDrop gets Qualcomm backing, leaving old Pixels out in the cold, but for how long?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google\u2019s announcement its Quick Share feature suddenly worked with Apple\u2019s AirDrop<\/a> file sharing tool took most by surprise, which was then laced with disappointment due to it currently only working with Pixel 10 series phones. <\/p>\n

However, Qualcomm has since jumped into the conversation, and by doing so has raised more questions about Google opening up the feature on older Pixel models. <\/p>\n

Qualcomm\u2019s integration coming soon<\/p>\n

Soon after Google shared the Quick Share news in a post on social media platform X, Qualcomm added its own voice to the excitement, sharing that it:<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t wait for people to use this once enabled on Snapdragon in the near future.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not much to unpack in Qualcomm\u2019s note, as it makes it clear Quick Share\u2019s cross-platform sharing feature will operate on phones with Snapdragon processors inside. <\/p>\n

This means devices made by Samsung, Motorola, Nothing, Xiaomi, Honor, and practically every other major Android maker\u2019s device on the planet could get the chance to easily swap files with Apple phones.<\/p>\n

Great news, but\u2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s always heartening to hear brands come together to make a genuinely helpful feature available to more people. Except in this case, Qualcomm\u2019s message raises questions over Google\u2019s efforts to make the Quick Share update available on more of its own phones. <\/p>\n

Google\u2019s recent Pixel series phones do not use a Qualcomm processor, but Google\u2019s own Tensor chips. In its blog post on the subject, Google said the updated file share feature was, \u201cstarting with the Pixel 10 family,\u201d hinting at other devices working with it in the future. <\/p>\n

Qualcomm-powered phones would fit into this category, and Google\u2019s phrasing doesn\u2019t exactly inspire confidence in the updated Quick Share feature coming to other Pixel phones. Qualcomm\u2019s words are also well-chosen, as it doesn\u2019t state which devices will receive the update. <\/p>\n

Will it even get that far?<\/p>\n

Quick Share\u2019s compatibility with AirDrop isn\u2019t an Apple\/Google collaboration<\/a>. It\u2019s Google working its magic<\/a> to make cross-OS file sharing a reality.<\/p>\n

Does that mean Apple may update AirDrop in the future and include an unfortunate feature-change that ends Quick Share\u2019s ability to work with it? If so, it won\u2019t matter how many Android phones support the feature. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible this uncertainty has held Google back from adding the feature to older Pixel devices. By restricting it to the most recent phones, Google remains in control of how many devices are suddenly Quick Sharing and AirDropping away. <\/p>\n

Support looks like it’s here to stay<\/p>\n

\"A
\n Credit:\u00a0Lucas Gouveia \/ Android Police<\/p>\n

Apple may face problems if it does break support though. Reports suggest<\/a> the interoperability may be a by-product of Apple complying with European Union directives, most importantly the integration of the Wi-Fi Aware standard into iOS 26, which it\u2019s speculated is a key part of the new Quick Share feature. <\/p>\n

Android has supported Wi-Fi Aware since Android 8 Oreo<\/a>, so if it is required for Quick Share and AirDrop, a lot of quite old Android phones may potentially be compatible. Android Police has contacted Google to understand any plans to bring the new Quick Share feature to more Pixel phones.<\/p>\n

For now, if you\u2019ve got a Pixel 10 phone and an iPhone or iPad with iOS 26, make sure you\u2019ve installed the Quick Share update<\/a> and take your first step into the new world of cross-platform file sharing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Google\u2019s announcement its Quick Share feature suddenly worked with Apple\u2019s AirDrop file sharing tool took most by surprise,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[2306,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-280553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-mobile","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280553","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=280553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}