Airdrop is woefully under-developed.

[Jazmodo]

Just thought I'd share this, as I've just sent it to Apple in a feedback form:

Airdrop is currently ridiculously under-developed.

I was trying to transfer 9 files of 20-30gb each from a 2021 MBP 16", to a 2021 iPad Pro.

There are a multitude of issues.

a. the only way 'airdrop' displays progress is a circular progress bar that slowly fills up - no % or time remaining, which with large files that take 5-10mins+ to transfer is definitely useful.
b. there is no progress info of any kind on the iPad
c. when trying to copy very large files, or more than 1 file at once, the progress wheel/circle would disappear entirely, with no notice on either device that the transfer was still going.

The only way I knew it was still working was to open activity monitor, go the the networking tab, and count the GBs of transferred data to try and guesstimated what was going on.

I should have used a usb-C to C cable I know, but I was away for the holidays and didn't have one to hand.

 

[DaveP]

Transferring 250GB is not a common use case. If improvements can be made to assist with this scenario that are not to the detriment of the much more common transfer of a small file or two then sure that makes sense.

C sends like a bug and should be fixed. More detailed progress info could be nice for files greater than a certain size, however, for a single 10 MB image would likely be not helpful and no more accurate than a circular progress bar.

Frankly, I would just be happy that I was able to successfully transfer a quarter terabyte of data via AirDrop.

 

[Jazmodo]

250GB is only about 30mins of ProRes from an iPhone @ 4k 422 HQ though.

Seeing as the iPhone doesn't have Thunderbolt to fall back on, it's surprising Apple hasn't developed AirDrop further in either OSX or iOS.

How anyone transfers ProRes files locally (that means no to you, iCloud) from an iPhone is beyond me (see https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...prores-videos-from-the-iphone-13-pro.2316056/)

And if we're being frank, I was happy at being able to set up a P2P network and transfer files (of any size) in the 1990s. Not in 2021 ? It's not exactly witchcraft to give us data transfer speeds and/or data left to transfer


Edit: A quick search through this up as well - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-13pro-prores-file-transfer-w-airdrop.2315810/
Clearly an issue for others - hopefully Apple listens.

 

[MisterSavage]

Transferring 250GB is not a common use case.

This. Transferring photos and video between other people or with my Mac with AirDrop is incredibly convenient for me and works great.

 

[MacGizmo]

I've found AirDrop to work great and have not seen any of the behaviors you list, though I must admit I've never tried transferring anywhere near that amount of files (sizes). I would think it easier to use a USB-C cable, or even Dropbox, to do the job.

 

[Jazmodo]

I know its an outside use-case for AirDrop, and yeah a thunderbolt (usb-c) cable would've been ideal. It's just something I really think a mature OS should provide (data transfer metrics) without having to guesstimate from network activity.

I made the report to Apple about Airdrop as it was dropping out as well, but really, the lack of data transfer metrics affects all file transfers within OSX, they've just never bothered to add it.

This video from Fstoppers (18:02 onwards) sums it up perfectly for me:

 

[Fatus_Asticus]

I agree, airdrop should have a better UI with accurate status and easy to read progress indicator. Seems like a basic thing that should be on a premium product.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Just thought I'd share this, as I've just sent it to Apple in a feedback form:

Airdrop is currently ridiculously under-developed.

I was trying to transfer 9 files of 20-30gb each from a 2021 MBP 16", to a 2021 iPad Pro.

There are a multitude of issues.

a. the only way 'airdrop' displays progress is a circular progress bar that slowly fills up - no % or time remaining, which with large files that take 5-10mins+ to transfer is definitely useful.
b. there is no progress info of any kind on the iPad
c. when trying to copy very large files, or more than 1 file at once, the progress wheel/circle would disappear entirely, with no notice on either device that the transfer was still going.

The only way I knew it was still working was to open activity monitor, go the the networking tab, and count the GBs of transferred data to try and guesstimated what was going on.

I should have used a usb-C to C cable I know, but I was away for the holidays and didn't have one to hand.

in point a) most importantly ... on iOS/iPadOS a person cannot LEAVE that AirDrop task circular dialogue else they'll automatically and unknowingly cancel the transfer. The dialogue should be in status bar area and allow the user to switch to another task. AirDrop transfer of large files seems to be a model action which I thought would've been gone in iOS 10. Arrgh.

Thank you for submitting this to Apple feedback.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I've found AirDrop to work great and have not seen any of the behaviors you list, though I must admit I've never tried transferring anywhere near that amount of files (sizes). I would think it easier to use a USB-C cable, or even Dropbox, to do the job.

You really need to try our OPs use case. Your suggestion means in the OPs ideal task is 2 steps and double the time it should take using AirDrop. No point transferring to DropBox, Mega, etc only to have to transfer back to the Mac or iPad.

 

[MacGizmo]

You really need to try our OPs use case. Your suggestion means in the OPs ideal task is 2 steps and double the time it should take using AirDrop. No point transferring to DropBox, Mega, etc only to have to transfer back to the Mac or iPad.

I realize he knew a USB-C cable would be better, but he didn't have one. And I also realize that Dropbox is two-steps, but it seems to me that he's not happy with AirDrop. I wasn't necessarily offering them up as a proper solution, because he doesn't appear to be looking for one.

 

[Jazmodo]

MacGizmo isn't wrong, I wasn't looking for solutions as such, just sharing my experience & feedback to Apple. The more exposure, the better.

in point a) most importantly ... on iOS/iPadOS a person cannot LEAVE that AirDrop task circular dialogue else they'll automatically and unknowingly cancel the transfer.

Spot on, a simple task that was unnecessarily complicated.

I feel your pain on iOS more; with OSX at least I could use 'activity monitor' to track the network transfers, but on the iPad I had literally no way of seeing what was going on.

 

[supermars]

Sometimes I use airdrop between two Mac for the files from 5 to 250Go and it's fine : easy and fast enough.

 

[bearinthetown]

I can't believe anyone is defending this garbage UI of Airdrop. In a way it's difficult to blame Apple for having some of their software being such a terrible user experience if majority of their users don't even care.

 

[thebart]

I don't have an iOS device but others do and sometimes it would be very convenient for me to airdrop something from my Mac to their iPhone but nope this is a no go

Seems very typical of Apple to have a handy feature that only works in a narrow way. It just works, but only when it does

 

[NT1440]

I don't have an iOS device but others do and sometimes it would be very convenient for me to airdrop something from my Mac to their iPhone but nope this is a no go

Seems very typical of Apple to have a handy feature that only works in a narrow way. It just works, but only when it does

You can’t do that? Even when the recipient has their Airdrop set to accept receive?

 

[thebart]

You can’t do that? Even when the recipient has their Airdrop set to accept receive?

Hmm I don't remember. I'll try it again next time I have a chance

 

[NT1440]

Hmm I don't remember. I'll try it again next time I have a chance

I’d imagine if you’re not seeing other devices you might have YOUR airdrop on contacts only, and/or the iOS device you’re sending to has Airdop on contacts only (that’s the new default) or off entirely.

You’d have to have them set it to Everyone, and that stays on for I think 10 minutes now?

You’d have to start the transfer within that window of time.

 

[MacGizmo]

I wish Airdrop used WiFi as well as Bluetooth for establishing the connections. Having to be so close for it to work between two Macs is a nuisance for me.

I don't understand why Bluetooth is used to create a "mini WiFi network" for Airdop to work. It just seems like "hacky" thing to do.

 

[lupinglade]

It would be nice if it would work over Ethernet too. Having to turn on Wi-Fi every time on a machine that is on the same network via Ethernet seems backwards.

 

[MacGizmo]

It would be nice if it would work over Ethernet too. Having to turn on Wi-Fi every time on a machine that is on the same network via Ethernet seems backwards.

Yeah, that would be really great – though if I'm connected via Ethernet I would probably just mount the other Mac's drive directly anyway (since it's basically "always connected").

No matter how you slice it, AirDrop is a fantastic feature that just needs a little more thinking and attention from Apple – which means, unfortunately, it will probably never get any updates.