Google’s Quick Share offers a seamless way to share files with nearby Android devices. While it’s also available for Windows and ChromeOS devices, Apple’s macOS and iOS operating systems have been missing from the list. We saw hints of that changing last year, though progress on the development has been relatively slow. Thankfully, there appears to be some good news on this front.
Digging through the Google Play Services beta (version 25.37.31), Android Authority discovered new evidence detailing how Quick Share on Android will go about sharing files with nearby Apple iPhones.
Based on the screenshots published by the site, Google will make minor tweaks to the interface to differentiate between file sharing with Android devices and iPhones. Users will be prompted to use the QR code method to share files with iPhones nearby, requiring the iPhone user to scan the QR code displayed on the sharer’s phone.
But it’s not all good news
The setup page (second screenshot above) confirms that files will be end-to-end encrypted and uploaded to Google’s servers for 24 hours, thus allowing the iPhone user to “securely download” the files. There’s also a hyperlinked Learn more button here, which should redirect users to a support page entry detailing Quick Share’s privacy features.
Unfortunately, the fact that files must be uploaded to Google’s servers and later downloaded by the iPhone user means the process requires an internet connection. A similar QR code-based file sharing method is also available for Android-to-Android transfers, though it doesn’t require an internet connection, as Android Authority points out.
Recent reporting on this feature by the publication revealed that Android-to-iPhone Quick Share transfers would require the sender to be signed in to a Google account. This makes sense now, particularly with the additional context offered by this new revelation.
Quick Share-related changes have typically been slow to roll out, so we’re not exactly surprised that it has taken Google this long to enable compatibility with iPhones. It’s worth mentioning that there’s still no official word from Google about Quick Share’s upcoming support for iPhones. However, based on the screenshots above, it looks like we won’t have to wait too long.
