I want you to brace yourself, because despite what I’m about to tell you, (to my knowledge) the world is not ending. Are you ready? Well… Google made Android and Apple’s AirDrop play nice with each other. Deep breaths, everyone.
In a blog post from Google, the company said that Quick Share, the Android counterpart of AirDrop, can now send files to an iPhone via Bluetooth, just like it can between two Android devices. The same applies the other way; iOS users can now AirDrop to an Android device by searching for the device as they normally would on their iPhone. They both just… work now.
There is one small problem at the moment and that is that only Google Pixel 10 owners have this ability at the moment. Google says it plans to bring the functionality to other Android devices in the future — that is, if Apple doesn’t do a complete meltdown first.
To make matters even more interesting, Google says it suddenly had interoperability, as reported by The Verge No Done in collaboration with Apple. Rather, Google went ahead and cracked the code itself through “its own implementation”, and said its security process has been tested by a third party. Given the lack of cooperation, there is a definite possibility that it will all collapse. Trust me, I’ve seen how these iOS workarounds work (looking at you, Chat Nothing), and they’re not as simple as they seem.
Carl Pei, CEO of Nothing, which makes phones like the Nothing Phone 3 and Phone 3A Lite, said on X that his company is “already exploring how to bring this to the Nothing Phone as soon as possible.”
If you want to know how this all works in action, here’s a video demonstration from Google below, and Google also has an official support document on how this process works here. From what I can tell via documentation and videos, it looks just as smooth. For the record, we weren’t able to get the feature to work at Gizmodo, but the folks at Bloomberg have had more success.
Sharing moments shouldn’t depend on the phone you have. Starting today with the Pixel 10 family, Quick Share now works with AirDrop, making secure file transfers between Android phones and iPhones more seamless. This builds on our commitment to bridge cross-OS compatibility… pic.twitter.com/iNdZfjCYQ7
– Android (@android) 20 November 2025
It’s been a slow process, but Apple’s walled garden is certainly more scalable than before. First, there was RCS support, which allowed some feature interoperability between iOS and Android, like tapbacks, read receipts, and improved picture/video messaging and group chat. That process, which was actually sanctioned by Apple, had been going on for quite some time and was a product of external pressure on Apple to make iOS more compatible with other ecosystems, or to put it another way, less anti-competitive. Additionally, the entire EU was forcing Apple to adopt the USB-C thing, which… thank god.
Although it seems unlikely that the improved functionality between AirDrop and Quick Share is the result of similar pressures, there is a possibility that it may still persist, given the fact that regulators are more acutely aware of potential anti-competitiveness. In a situation when Apple puts its foot down, will Google appeal its case? I don’t know, maybe. Or perhaps Apple won’t even try, knowing it has lost similar battles in recent years.
For now, all we have is speculation and a little hope. Our mobile computing may have just gotten a little easier, really, really and forever.