What it is advisable to know
- Android’s native assist for AirDrop is increasing, with Pixel 9 and 9 Professional already gaining cross-platform sharing assist.
- Google plans a wider rollout to extra Android telephones, together with gadgets from companions like Samsung and Nothing.
- Google beforehand confirmed this isn’t a short lived workaround, and AirDrop compatibility is being constructed as a core Android platform characteristic.
In case you’ve ever tried to ship a photograph out of your Android cellphone to a good friend’s iPhone, you have in all probability used a third-party app like WhatsApp or Google Pictures, which made sharing really feel awkward. That problem is lastly coming to an finish. In November 2025, Google stunned everybody by making AirDrop work with Android, however at first, it solely labored on the Pixel 10 collection. Now that exclusivity is ending.
For the primary time, Android customers may ship pictures, movies, or paperwork to an iPhone or Mac with out utilizing third-party apps or difficult steps, because of the brand new interoperability.
Nonetheless, there have been some limits. When it launched, Fast Share solely labored with AirDrop on Pixel 10 telephones, and provided that each gadgets have been discoverable, with Apple gadgets set to ‘Everybody for 10 minutes.’ Earlier this month, although, the characteristic appeared in an Android Canary construct, and Pixel 9 and 9 Professional telephones are additionally set to obtain assist.
From Pixel unique to Android customary
At a latest press briefing in Taipei, Eric Kay, Google’s VP of Engineering for Android, confirmed that AirDrop assist by means of Fast Share won’t stay unique to Pixel telephones, as per Android Authority. The corporate has proven that the know-how works and plans to carry it to different Android gadgets quickly. This consists of not simply older Pixels, but in addition a a lot wider rollout with different companions and producers.
It’s essential to notice that Google is treating this as a platform-level improve, not a workaround. Fast Share’s means to work with AirDrop isn’t a shortcut or a short lived repair. Google says it constructed the characteristic with safety as a precedence, working with unbiased auditors and utilizing trusted protocols behind the scenes.
So what’s subsequent? Android customers ought to count on this characteristic to develop past Pixel telephones over the approaching months. Samsung, Nothing, and different OEMs have already hinted they’re , and with occasions like MWC and Galaxy Unpacked on the horizon, Google has loads of levels to stroll this by means of.
Android Central’s Take
As somebody who’s juggled telephones from each side of the divide, I see this as one of the crucial consumer-friendly strikes in tech in years. For too lengthy, corporations have used ecosystem lock-in to maintain customers caught, making issues much less handy. Google’s push to make Fast Share a common bridge, not only a Pixel trophy, is a strong assertion that interoperability needs to be the default, not the exception.
This variation provides customers extra selection. Now, you possibly can select a cellphone for its {hardware}, software program, or worth, as a substitute of worrying about whether or not you possibly can ship a photograph to your sister. It removes a standard frustration, which is how know-how ought to work. The true win isn’t for Android or Apple, however for anybody who simply desires their gadgets to work collectively simply.
