Google will soon offer AirDrop support on more Android devices

One of the most surprising tech developments in 2025 was bringing two-way support for Apple’s AirDrop feature to its Pixel 10 series of phones. At the time, Google announced plans to expand the feature to other devices at a later date, and that date could be near.

During a press briefing in the presence of At Google’s Taipei office, Eric Kay, vice president of Android engineering, confirmed that AirDrop interoperability will expand in 2026. “We spent a lot of time and energy to make sure that we could build something that was compatible not only with the iPhone but also with iPads and MacBooks,” he said. “Now that we’ve proven it, we’re working with our partners to expand it to the rest of the ecosystem, and you should see some exciting announcements very soon.”

Currently, Pixel 10 users can send and receive files and photos between Apple and Android devices using Quick Share. For an Android device to receive from an iPhone, it must set its Quick Share visibility settings to “everyone for 10 minutes” and ensure it is in “receive” mode on the Quick Share page.

It’s a similar story for Android to Apple file sharing. You need to set your iPhone, iPad, or Mac’s Airdrop visibility to “anyone for 10 minutes,” which allows someone outside of your contacts to use Quick Share on their Pixel 10.

When this feature launched, it wasn’t clear to what extent Apple had been involved, if at all, or whether the infamous walled garden would banish Android-minded intruders again in a subsequent software update. But that didn’t happen, and in November, Qualcomm announced that devices powered by its Snapdragon chips would also soon be able to transfer files to iPhones using Quick Share, suggesting that Pixel exclusivity wouldn’t last long.

Google’s willingness to play nice with Apple gear is apparently a move designed to make life easier for anyone considering switching from an iPhone to an Android device. As reported Android AuthorityKay also said his company is committed to making data transfer during the changeover as simple as possible.

Not long ago, the idea of ​​Apple and Google collaborating to make device-hopping more user-friendly was a fantasy, but by December the longtime rivals were working on a new, simplified data transfer system. Every company already offers a method for trading ecosystems, but a new version of Android Canary has hinted at something that would work at the operating system level.

Last month, Apple and Google also released a joint statement saying the new version of Siri would use Google’s Gemini models, effectively resulting in a Google-powered voice assistant on your iPhone.