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Google Expands AirDrop Support to More Android Phones

I do have the S25 FE as a secondary/backup of my 17 Pro Max, it doesn't show the "Show Apple Devices" in the Quick Share menu. Slow, and delivered by batches the Android world.
 
Tested with an iPhone 17 and 17 Pro Max today using a Pixel 8a running Android 17 beta 4.1. ZERO luck making it work. Followed directions and couldn’t get it to work sending or receiving.
 
gleepskip said:
Everybody, be sure to use protection around iOS owners.
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There fixed it for you.

I really don't get why so many people are against this. It's a useful feature, and is as reliable as Airdrop from iPhone to macOS in my experience (i.e. not perfect). Do people not want to share files with Android users? Are they naïve enough to think that bad actors only use Android? Do they still believe that open source = wild west???
 
TheMacDaddy1 said:
This is still a problem Android devices. Will my Samsung TAB S10 FE+ currently on Android 16 get Android 17 in a few months? It is supported for a while, but who knows if and when it will get Android 17. Worse it is probably up to Samsung....who will want you to upgrade the tablet to get the newest Android.

Google with Pixel is no better. New features roll out for the monthly updates and for a time they only come to the latest version, in this case the Pixel 10. Later they do come to the 9 and maybe 8....later the 7 (if you are lucky).

With iOS your phone is either supported or not and if supported, you get it the day everyone else can get it.
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Whilst updates on pixels and iOS are everyone at the same time (some carriers excepted) not every iPhone gets every feature. With Google there is a chance that it might come a month or 2 later.
 
mlayer said:
Disappointing that every supported model appears to be 2024 or later.
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Android phones weren't pressed to support the hardware, and their vendors are typically bad about upgrading their base operating system to get more modern hardware drivers (or security updates for that matter)
 
contacos said:
The funny thing is that Samsung gets a lot of features before even Pixel. They often introduce new Google features at the Samsung event as well
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I think it says more about Samsung that they devote stage time and advertising to features every Android phone is capable of rather than anything exclusive.
 
robvalentine said:
Do they still believe that open source = wild west???
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Which part of this is open source?

Very little of Android is open (specifically, AOSP). Quick Share is part of Play Services which is limited to partner devices, and is mostly closed source.

That also means that we can't verify the security of this solution - but my understanding is that it is operating in a reduced security mode because it can't rely on prior communication between contact apple accounts, and that is why it requires the iPhone to be switched into everyone mode.
 
dwaite said:
Which part of this is open source?

Very little of Android is open (specifically, AOSP). Quick Share is part of Play Services which is limited to partner devices, and is mostly closed source.

That also means that we can't verify the security of this solution - but my understanding is that it is operating in a reduced security mode because it can't rely on prior communication between contact apple accounts, and that is why it requires the iPhone to be switched into everyone mode.
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I should stop posting pre coffee lol, a lot of Android is open source, the additional software Google, Samsung etc add isn't to be fair.

As to the security, well google cracked it, so I wouldn't be surprised if malicious actors such as celebrate, NSO, and other bad actors have also cracked it to install malware.
 
robvalentine said:
As to the security, well google cracked it, so I wouldn't be surprised if malicious actors such as celebrate, NSO, and other bad actors have also cracked it to install malware.
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They didn't really "crack" it - they just figured out how to interoperate when the iPhone user turns on the far less secure "everybody" mode temporarily. Cracking would imply Google could send me malicious files impersonating someone in my contacts, and without me switching to "everybody" mode first.

And Google can't really do more for the same reason Apple wasn't able to support encryption on RCS until recently - each vendor (Apple in the first case, Google in the second) is relying on a self-hosted proprietary security system based on all participants being customers. Apple had to work with the GSMA to create a workable multi-vendor solution and then wait for other parties to properly support it to get proper RCS support. Google appears to be avoiding standardization and just reverse engineering a subset of Apple's current AirDrop system.
 
RafaelHO said:
I do have the S25 FE as a secondary/backup of my 17 Pro Max, it doesn't show the "Show Apple Devices" in the Quick Share menu. Slow, and delivered by batches the Android world.
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My S24+ shows under Quick Share "Share With Apple Devices". I have Android 16 with 33.0 update.
 
JosephAW said:
They should support their last five device releases if they want to be like Apple.

Probably didn’t implement 10 minute airdrop when turning it on for all contacts, it’s gonna be a mess. 😛
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I got 4 or 5 updates for my iPad-Pro (1st-gen, 2015, iOS16.7.16) this year = 11 years later!

And the battery refuses to die ...
 
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dwaite said:
They didn't really "crack" it - they just figured out how to interoperate when the iPhone user turns on the far less secure "everybody" mode temporarily.
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So they "cracked it"? Airdrop is Apple's proprietary protocol, google reversed engineered it to make it work, meaning they "cracked" it.
dwaite said:
Cracking would imply Google could send me malicious files impersonating someone in my contacts, and without me switching to "everybody" mode first.
Click to expand...

No. Cracking doesn't require bypassing every security feature.

Nobody is claiming Google can impersonate your contacts or bypass Apple's trust model. The point is that Google successfully reverse engineered a proprietary Apple protocol and achieved interoperability without Apple's cooperation.

The reason it only works in "Everyone for 10 minutes" mode is because Apple doesn't expose the information needed for the Contacts Only trust model.

dwaite said:
And Google can't really do more for the same reason Apple wasn't able to support encryption on RCS until recently
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False. Apple was always capable of supporting encrypted RCS.

Google implemented E2EE years ago using the open Signal Protocol because the Universal Profile allows vendor specific extensions. Apple chose to wait for the GSMA to standardize a multi-vendor solution based on MLS.

That was a standards decision, not a technical limitation.
dwaite said:
- each vendor (Apple in the first case, Google in the second) is relying on a self-hosted proprietary security system based on all participants being customers.
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Signal Protocol isn't proprietary.

It's an open protocol with publicly available specifications that has been independently audited and adopted by many organizations.

dwaite said:
Apple had to work with the GSMA to create a workable multi-vendor solution and then wait for other parties to properly support it to get proper RCS support.
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False.

Google spent years proposing E2EE for RCS and the carriers repeatedly rejected it, which is why Google shipped Signal Protocol encryption as an extension.

At the same time, Google was actively participating in the IETF's MLS effort alongside organizations such as Mozilla, Meta, Cisco, MIT, Oxford, INRIA, and Wire to develop MLS which is what the GSMA adopted. Google is the one that wrote the implementation for MLS on RCS not Apple.

dwaite said:
Google appears to be avoiding standardization and just reverse engineering a subset of Apple's current AirDrop system.
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What are you even talking about?

AirDrop is Apple's proprietary file-sharing system. Apple has never standardized it or published it as an open specification.

Meanwhile, Quick Share already uses open technologies like Wi-Fi Aware (NAN). Apple could adopt those same standards for OS-level file sharing but chooses not to. If you read the history of the protocol you would know NAN and AWDS are cousins.

If anyone is avoiding standardization here, it's Apple. Google is reverse engineering AirDrop because Apple keeps it locked inside its ecosystem.
 
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Why is this being rolled on a per device basis and not just as an Android feature?
I’m pretty sure this is all done through software
I haven’t checked but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a thread on XDA Developers right now telling you how to get this on any phone with Android 15
 
MrSnirf said:
So they "cracked it"? Airdrop is Apple's proprietary protocol, google reversed engineered it to make it work, meaning they "cracked" it.


No. Cracking doesn't require bypassing every security feature.
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Ahh, I see the problem. I'm using "cracking" in the computer security definition, as in cracking the combination on a safe.

Specifically, Google did not reverse engineer or duplicate any of the security or privacy mechanisms of AirDrop, which is my main problem with their implementation.
 
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