We have been hearing about Google's AirDrop counterpart -- Nearby Sharing -- for a while now. The functionality for Android users will allow them to easily share files with other Android devices with ease, much like AirDrops functions. Now, it seems like the feature is soon to make its official appearance as Google's Nearby Sharing is available as part of the beta. Read on to know more about it.
AirDrop competitor Nearby Sharing now in beta
Google's Nearby Sharing is now a part of the Google Play Services beta. As per a report by Android Police, Google is conducting a limited beta testing of the AirDrop's Android rival and will soon reveal more details on the same. You can get access to the feature by signing up for the Play Services beta. However, as it is being made available to a limited number of users, you might not necessarily be able to use it.
The Nearby Sharing feature works in a pretty simple way. Whenever a photo, video, or any other file is selected to be shared, the Nearby Share option will appear in the share sheet, which can be tapped to start sharing files via the feature. If the feature isn't enabled, a prompt will appear asking you to enable it and set the default visibility and device name settings. Alternatively, it will also reside in the quick settings window.
Following, Nearby Sharing will look for compatible devices to share the files with. It goes without saying that the devices need to have the Google Play Services beta to get access to the feature. Once the device appears, you need to select it and initiate the file sharing. The other device will receive a prompt asking the user to either accept or decline the files, much like on AirDrop. Once both the devices give out the required commands, the files will be shared with ease.
For those who don't know, Google's Nearby Sharing will work similarly to Apple's AirDrop for easy file transfer. While it isn't known what all files it can share, it is suggested it will include images videos, URLs, PDFs, and more. Previous report also suggests that Nearby Sharing will work on Android, Windows, Linux, and even Macs. Additionally, the file-sharing could be different for different devices, as per Android Police.
Although an exact date isn't available, Google is expected to introduce Nearby Sharing for all Android 6+ and other platform users pretty soon. We will update you once this happens. Hence, stay tuned.
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