Android's Quick Share is Now Compatible with AirDrop

According to Android Authority, Android's Quick Share feature for sending files wirelessly over the air is now officially compatible with AirDrop, without any help from Apple.

Apple's AirDrop allows secure and simple file sharing to devices within Wi-Fi and Bluetooth range of your device. However, it was designed to be a proprietary feature only for Apple devices.

Android's similar Quick Share, originally created by Samsung and later adopted by Google to replace its own Nearby Share in Google Play Services, provided the same functionality between Android users. But if you wanted to easily share files across Android and iOS, you were out of luck.

Until today that is. Android Authority was able to get official confirmation from Google that the compatibility was strictly their own implementation and research:

We accomplished this through our own implementation. Our implementation was thoroughly vetted by our own privacy and security teams, and we also engaged a third party security firm to pentest the solution.

In another statement from Google, they made very clear they are open to collaboration with Apple:

Our goal is to provide an easy and secure file sharing experience for our users, regardless of who they are communicating with. Like with RCS and unknown tracker alerts, we always welcome collaboration opportunities to address interoperability issues between iOS and Android.

Apple previously has contributed their MagSafe technology to the Wireless Power Consortium to become part of the open Qi 2 standard.

With pressure from the EU to make AirDrop cross-compatible, Apple should be looking to open up their technology to avoid legal troubles and improve the user experience between Android and iOS users.