Google has begun testing its Airdrop-like file sharing feature called Nearby Share, according to Android Police. The feature is now available along with the latest version of the Play Services beta that was recently released.
Based on the report, Nearby Share works similarly to Apple’s Airdrop function but with some minor differences. Users can use it to quickly transfer files wirelessly between several Android phones with the feature activated. Android Police’s hands-on with the new feature revealed that it supports various formats such as photos and videos, as well as links and tweets.
But aside from making their devices visible (ala Bluetooth), the receivers must manually confirm the file transfer process before receiving any files. This is to avoid major risks such as transferring or receiving explicit content or malware items to others.
Additionally, the site also discovered that Nearby Share had started showing up in the Canary build of Google’s Chrome OS earlier in June. This indicates that the feature will work on Chromebooks as well, and cross-compatibility with Android devices seems very likely.
On a somewhat related note, another Airdrop inspired feature called Quick Share by Samsung is also available – as previously reported back in January. Unlike Nearby Share, the Korean company’s version could share files between first party devices only.
(Source / Images: Android Police)
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