Nearby Sharing From Google: Android vs. iOS is one of those debates that you can’t put an end to. No matter how much you tried. It does get a bit boring and irritating sometimes, but, ultimately, this stormy debate is one of the big reasons why the companies have kept on improving their respective OS.
While Google pulls ahead in terms of customization and personalization. Apple is still the undisputed king when it comes to flawless exchange with other devices of the same ecosystem. Yes, Apple has an unfair benefit in this department, as the company only enables Apple devices to use the proprietary OS. However, ultimately, when we consider customer convenience, it’s difficult not to announce Apple the clear winner.
Apple’s iMessage used to be the undisputed leader in messaging until Google came swinging in with its own RCS-powered messages app — Messages. Now, you can seamlessly exchange messages from your PC, without laying a finger on your Android phone.
Now Google has turned its attention towards another Apple fan-favorite — AirDrop. For those who don’t know, AirDrop enables Apple OSes — Mac OS and iOS — to exchange all types of files. Just keep the two target devices close to one another, and AirDrop will take care of the rest.
Dubbed as Nearby Search, the service imitate the working principle of Apple’s AirDrop and is expected to be just as effective.
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What is Nearby Sharing?
Nearby Sharing finally Google’s answer to Apple’s AirDrop. It would allow nearby Android devices to exchange files with one another at high-speeds. Google has already tried its luck in nearby file-exchange, once, with NFC-based Android Beam. But never it really managed to allure users. Ultimately, the company discards the service in Android 10 and now its finally ready to release a better, faster alternative.
Nearby Sharing was first spotted in July 2019 under the name ‘Fast Share.’ Now Google has changed the name and user interface of the service since, but the working principle has remained the same.
How will it work?
Google tried its luck with nearby file exchange before with Android Beam. While it didn’t need a third-party app. It had nothing on Apple AirDrop in terms of transfer speed. Nearby Sharing is set to learn from its predecessor’s mistakes and hopefully it implement a system that can transfer large files at speeds.
Google’s Nearby Sharing would first maintain a connection between the sender and receiver with the help of Bluetooth. After establishing a Bluetooth connection, the devices switch to Wi-Fi direct, which would enable them to transfer files at higher speeds than NFC-powered Android Beam.
To maintain the base connection in Nearby Sharing, users would reportedly have to keep the devices within one foot of one another. This feature is still in development, so, we will cut Google some pause for the time being. However, if Google ends up releasing this service with only 1-foot coverage — AirDrop offers 30ft — monitor won’t hesitate to cut the American tech giant to rag.
When will it be available?
Unfortunately, Google has not announced a launch date for Nearby Sharing. So, we’ve no clue when the American tech giant would enable the service to see the light of day. Google usually launches its latest innovation at Google I/O.
How to get Nearby Sharing?
Google can’t launch the feature to the public yet. So, there’s no way you can get Nearby Sharing up and running on your mobile.
In other news, Chinese OEMs, OPPO, Xiaomi and Vivo have joined hands to create their own Apple AirDrop alternative. Realme shares a bond with OPPO. It’ll also be a part of the new alliance and take benefit of this latest P2P file transfer protocol. If you have a Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, or Realme device, you can safely share files and folders with another Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, and Realme user.
Conclusion:
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Also Read: Set up Messages Backup and Restore
