Nearby Share, Android’s AirDrop comes to Windows📱🔄️💻

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Good news for Windows PC and Android smartphone users. You will be able to transfer your files between devices without using Bluetooth, thanks to the Nearby Share feature.

What is Nearby Share ?🤔

One of the favorite features of iPhones users is AirDrop. It is a quick and easy way to transfer files between 2 devices. No need to connect via Bluetooth, type in an authentication code to pair the two devices before initiating the transfer. A search is enough and the connection is seamless.

Few people know it, but Android has had a similar feature called « Nearby Share » for years now. If the name doesn’t sound as good as AirDrop, the principle remains the same. In 2 clicks, you make a search, you select the device and that’s it.

Nearby Share comes to Windows 💻

Until now, « Nearby Share » was a step back from AirDrop. Indeed, sharing is done between Android smartphones or Chromebook computers. Except that while many iPhone owners have MacBooks, and can therefore use AirDrop between their two devices, Android smartphone and Windows PC owners have been left out until now. But things are about to change.

It is via a blog post that Google announced the coming of « Nearby Share » on Windows. As with smartphones, it will be easier to transfer photos, videos, documents and more from your Android smartphone to your Windows PC and vice versa. To do this, you need to download and install the « Nearby Sharing » application on your Windows PC.

Source : Google

Unfortunately, the application is only available in Beta and in the US. But if you have a VPN, you can download it by clicking here. Once that’s done, all you have to do is install it and follow the configuration settings. Once configured, your computer will be easily detectable by surrounding Android smartphones, if you choose to make it visible. You can also choose to make it visible only to your contacts or devices, but for that, you will have to connect your Google account.

Source : Google