What you must know
- Android’s native help for AirDrop is increasing, with Pixel 9 and 9 Professional already gaining cross-platform sharing help.
- Google plans a wider rollout to extra Android telephones, together with gadgets from companions like Samsung and Nothing.
- Google beforehand confirmed this isn’t a brief workaround, and AirDrop compatibility is being constructed as a core Android platform function.
In case you’ve ever tried to ship a photograph out of your Android cellphone to a buddy’s iPhone, you have in all probability used a third-party app like WhatsApp or Google Images, which made sharing really feel awkward. That problem is lastly coming to an finish. In November 2025, Google shocked everybody by making AirDrop work with Android, however at first, it solely labored on the Pixel 10 collection. Now that exclusivity is ending.
For the primary time, Android customers may ship images, movies, or paperwork to an iPhone or Mac with out utilizing third-party apps or difficult steps, because of the brand new interoperability.
Nevertheless, there have been some limits. When it launched, Fast Share solely labored with AirDrop on Pixel 10 telephones, and provided that each gadgets have been discoverable, with Apple gadgets set to ‘Everybody for 10 minutes.’ Earlier this month, although, the function appeared in an Android Canary construct, and Pixel 9 and 9 Professional telephones are additionally set to obtain help.
From Pixel unique to Android commonplace
At a current press briefing in Taipei, Eric Kay, Google’s VP of Engineering for Android, confirmed that AirDrop help by means of Fast Share is not going to stay unique to Pixel telephones, as per Android Authority. The corporate has proven that the know-how works and plans to deliver it to different Android gadgets quickly. This consists of not simply older Pixels, but in addition a a lot wider rollout with different companions and producers.
It’s essential to notice that Google is treating this as a platform-level improve, not a workaround. Fast Share’s means to work with AirDrop is just not a shortcut or a brief repair. Google says it constructed the function with safety as a precedence, working with unbiased auditors and utilizing trusted protocols behind the scenes.
So what’s subsequent? Android customers ought to count on this function to develop past Pixel telephones over the approaching months. Samsung, Nothing, and different OEMs have already hinted they’re , and with occasions like MWC and Galaxy Unpacked on the horizon, Google has loads of levels to stroll this by means of.
Android Central’s Take
As somebody who’s juggled telephones from each side of the divide, I see this as probably the most consumer-friendly strikes in tech in years. For too lengthy, firms have used ecosystem lock-in to maintain customers caught, making issues much less handy. Google’s push to make Fast Share a common bridge, not only a Pixel trophy, is a strong assertion that interoperability must be the default, not the exception.
This modification offers customers extra selection. Now, you’ll be able to select a cellphone for its {hardware}, software program, or value, as a substitute of worrying about whether or not you’ll be able to ship a photograph to your sister. It removes a typical frustration, which is how know-how ought to work. The actual win isn’t for Android or Apple, however for anybody who simply needs their gadgets to work collectively simply.
