Google took everyone by surprise earlier this week when it announced that Quick Share now works with AirDrop, allowing for seamless file transfers between Android devices and iPhones and iPads. Reports have also suggested that this will work with Macs as well.
The company has limited this functionality to its Pixel 10 devices for now but it will eventually be opened up to all Android devices, including those from Samsung. The feature works the other way around as well, with Apple device owners able to share files with Android devices using AirDrop.
It will remove a major pain point that users have had when it came to sharing files with Apple devices, and go a long way to ensure greater interoperability between the only two mobile platforms.
What came as a surprise to many is that Google went at this problem alone. Apple didn’t play any part in allowing access to the walled garden. It would have liked things to remain as they were, with AirDrop access being firmly limited to its device owners only.
Google has confirmed as much, saying that this was done through its own implementation. Apple hasn’t commented on the development as yet. There has been no message either welcoming it as step forward for interoperability or condemning it for unilaterally opening up a capability for its devices that it has kept locked up on purpose.
A lot of what Apple does is centered around privacy. That also forms the bedrock for many of the arguments in support of its walled garden.
Perhaps anticipating that it may have to field questions in this domain, Google has explained at length how this feature has been developed without compromising privacy.
The company mentions that no workaround has been used for this feature. “The connection is direct and peer-to-peer, meaning your data is never routed through a server, shared content is never logged, and no extra data is shared.”
This basically means that the feature works like Quick Share and AirDrop have always had in their separate bubbles. They’re now just talking to each other while retaining all of the privacy protections that they already had.
The company has also had an independent security assessment done from NetSPI to get ahead of any privacy implications that Apple may use to block access.
Apple isn’t usually keen on cross-platform compatibility. Google had been pushing RCS messaging for years and Apple continued to ignore it for years. It only agreed to add support for RCS back in 2023 after years of mounting pressure, including regulatory pressure, could no longer be ignored.
It’s tough to assume that Apple would be fine with this unwanted breach of its walled garden, as it’s not just about what has happened now, but what could happen in the future. If this doesn’t get a response, what else can Google probe to improve interoperability between Android and iOS?
Some of the appeal and charm its products have comes from features that people can’t get anywhere else. You have to use an Apple device if you want to use iMessage, for example. Even if this feature doesn’t open the floodgates, Apple probably wouldn’t want a scenario where its captive user base begins imagining what a world beyond the walled garden would look like.
It’s not wrong to wish for simpler file sharing between Android and Apple devices. We can’t control what devices our friends, family members, colleagues, etc use. Many of us have found ourselves in a situation where we felt that a Samsung AirDrop to iPhone feature would be so much better than having to jump through hoops to send a file across.
Maybe Google has limited this to Pixel 10s only just to gauge what Apple’s response might be. If it drops the hammer quickly then there’s no use is expanding the feature to countless Android devices. Apple can certainly make changes on its end to kill this feature before it even takes off, and given the company’s historical stance on these matters, it doesn’t inspire much confidence that Apple will just sit by and do nothing.
