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AirDrop is really nice!

Black Magic

Black Magic

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Sep 30, 2012
2,821
1,516
So I just played with AirDrop back and forth with my iPhone and iPad Mini and let me tell you it is awesome! Apple hit the ball out of the park with this one. What the hell was Samsung thinking tapping phones when this is so much more easier and user friendly?

I can see this feature getting some serious use!
 
Black Magic said:
So I just played with AirDrop back and forth with my iPhone and iPad Mini and let me tell you it is awesome! Apple hit the ball out of the park with this one. What the hell was Samsung thinking tapping phones when this is so much more easier and user friendly?

I can see this feature getting some serious use!
Click to expand...

Now they just have to allow it to work between iOS and OSX...It seem's like they really dropped the ball there.:confused:
 
Exactly, without OS X support, it's useless for me, I don't need transferring files between my portable devices, I need to transfer them from/to my Desktop/Laptop.

Would be even better if they create an app to run AirDrop service for Windows too.
 
malih said:
Exactly, without OS X support, it's useless for me, I don't need transferring files between my portable devices, I need to transfer them from/to my Desktop/Laptop.

Would be even better if they create an app to run AirDrop service for Windows too.
Click to expand...

Sharing files with other folks is still really cool especially when it's so simple now.
 
Telp said:
Now they just have to allow it to work between iOS and OSX...It seem's like they really dropped the ball there.:confused:
Click to expand...
It will most certainly be integrated into OSX in the near future, just like Airplay. And I can see Windows getting in on it too via 3rd party devs (similar to how XBMC allows Airplay on WinPC).
 
Telp said:
Now they just have to allow it to work between iOS and OSX...It seem's like they really dropped the ball there.:confused:
Click to expand...


I agree w/ this. I have been forced to use google drive/dropbox to do what airdrop should be able to. What a shame.
 
But what can you really share without the file system being opened up? Beyond photos & videos, are they going to limit it to iWork docs? I either use DropBox or a thumb drive on my keychain to be able to quickly transfer files of any type from one machine to another. If AirDrop is limited to only a few file types, it will be "nice" but not truly useful.

And I will admit that I have not yet done a deep dive into the AirDrop specs, so if I missed a sheet that defines what it can & can't do...my bad.
 
CAWjr said:
But what can you really share without the file system being opened up? Beyond photos & videos, are they going to limit it to iWork docs? I either use DropBox or a thumb drive on my keychain to be able to quickly transfer files of any type from one machine to another. If AirDrop is limited to only a few file types, it will be "nice" but not truly useful.

And I will admit that I have not yet done a deep dive into the AirDrop specs, so if I missed a sheet that defines what it can & can't do...my bad.
Click to expand...

Apple said if an app can use a share sheet, it can use Airdrop.
 
AirDrop between iOS and OSX is not going to work. Hardware limitation (Wifi direct needed for ad hoc wireless connection - no internet connection needed).
 
Yay!

It will be nice... I share photos with near friends all the time and sometimes iMessage doesn't deliver as quickly as I would like in spotty coverage areas. It will be nice to be able to go from phone to phone directly.

I would imagine that if the AirDrop functionality for iPhone>Mac doesn't exist with the pending iOS 7 release, it will be incorporated later. I think Apple would be smart enough to name the feature something else if they have no intention of Mac integration since Macs have had AirDrop for awhile. Obviously the requirement will be that the Mac and iPhone be on the same 802.3/802.11 /bluetooth network. I suspect the update will occur to the Mac to allow this feature to be used with iOS 7. Hopefully this occurs. I'm tired of iMessaging myself pics to my Mac. (I don't want to use Photostream) :)
 
phositadc said:
How is it better than dropbox?
Click to expand...

Dropbox uploads data to the cloud. Airdrop creates an ad hoc wifi connection between two devices and fires the data straight to it. It doesn't use the internet. This means in ideal conditions it could reach almost the maximum throughput your router is capable of, just like locally networked computers.
 
Last edited:
Ashin said:
Looking forward to jailbreak to get this on my iPhone 4:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The iPhone 4 doesn't support Wi-Fi Direct, therefore it's impossible for it to actually support AirDrop.

----------
madsci954 said:
Apple said if an app can use a share sheet, it can use Airdrop.
Click to expand...

Except the thing is with share sheets, you're sharing one of 5 things:

Photos
Videos
iWork documents
Links
Text
 
Why can't AirDrop be implemented on OS X? Are the Mac's WiFi incapable of doing WiFi Direct? I wasn't aware that this was a hardware limitation.
 
flux73 said:
Why can't AirDrop be implemented on OS X? Are the Mac's WiFi incapable of doing WiFi Direct? I wasn't aware that this was a hardware limitation.
Click to expand...

The Mac uses WiFi Ad-Hoc, iOS uses Wi-Fi Direct

It's more efficient for mobile devices to use Wi-Fi Direct, but IIRC the wifi chips in the all new Airs are actually Wi-Fi Direct compatible, so chances are we'll see AirDrop iOS <--> OS X with future models of the Mac in a 7.1/10.9.x update or 8.0/10.10.
 
chrf097 said:
The Mac uses WiFi Ad-Hoc, iOS uses Wi-Fi Direct

It's more efficient for mobile devices to use Wi-Fi Direct, but IIRC the wifi chips in the all new Airs are actually Wi-Fi Direct compatible, so chances are we'll see AirDrop iOS <--> OS X with future models of the Mac in a 7.1/10.9.x update or 8.0/10.10.
Click to expand...

From Wikipedia:
"Only one of the Wi-Fi devices needs to be compliant with Wi-Fi Direct to establish a peer-to-peer connection that transfers data directly between each other with greatly reduced setup."

Is this not accurate?
 
Böhme417 said:
From Wikipedia:
"Only one of the Wi-Fi devices needs to be compliant with Wi-Fi Direct to establish a peer-to-peer connection that transfers data directly between each other with greatly reduced setup."

Is this not accurate?
Click to expand...

Possibly.

I'm not a Wi-Fi Direct Genius. It's not just not having Wi-Fi Direct though, it's the protocols involved along with how the devices communicate. It's much much much more detailed than just having Wi-Fi Direct or not.
 
Telp said:
Now they just have to allow it to work between iOS and OSX...It seem's like they really dropped the ball there.:confused:
Click to expand...

Found an app called deskconnect in the app store that works really great for this.

You can transfer files like photos, small videos, PDF files, etc. as long as they're under 100 megabytes.


You have to download the app both for Mac and your iOS device and you can share files between the two very quickly and easily.

One of the best apps I've used in a while very simple and intuitive.
 
Black Magic said:
Sharing files with other folks is still really cool especially when it's so simple now.
Click to expand...

Yes, I think it's cool too. I do appreciate it when meeting with another friend using Macbook that I can simply AirDrop a file, but we rarely hang out.

It's just that personally, I'm the only one with iDevices, my girlfriend and most of my friends are Android+Windows users.
 
I understand Wi Fi needs to be turned on but do you need to be connected to a router for it to work?
 
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