Count this as the latest unexpected tension between Apple and Google. Today, Google announced that the Pixel 10 series of phones can use Android Quick Share with the iPhone’s AirDrop feature, meaning it will be much easier to shoot files and photos between the two platforms. Although the feature is currently limited to the Pixel 10 series of phones, Google says it wants to expand the feature to other devices.
Google has detailed how it worked from a privacy and security perspective in its tech blog if you want to know the details. But functionally, it looks like it will work the same way Quick Share currently does. The receiving Apple device (this will work with iPads and Macs as well as iPhones) needs to set its AirDrop visibility preferences to “None for 10 minutes.” This means that people outside your contacts list will be able to initiate an AirDrop or Quick Share transfer. From there, the Pixel 10 user should be able to see the receiving Apple device when they go to share things via Quick Share as normal.
Google also notes that Android devices can receive files from Apple devices that are using AirDrop. They just need to make sure their Quick Share visibility settings are uniformly set to “Everyone for 10 minutes” or they’re in “Receive” mode on the Quick Share page.
It’s unclear whether Apple was involved in creating this new feature or Google did it all on its own. Apple has not released a related post on its own newsroom. If Apple wasn’t involved, the obvious question is whether or not they would treat it as a security breach and release a software update that would undo Google’s work. And if they do, it’s entirely possible that we’re headed down another long road of company bickering about security versus openness.
We’ve contacted Apple and Google to get more information and will update this post if we hear back.