Nearby Sharing in Android becomes Quick Sharing

Google partners with Samsung and turns the Nearby Share function into a Quick Share function.

Not long ago, Google launched Nearby Share in Europe, as a direct competitor to Apple's AirDrop feature that has been around for more than 12 years. Android users can quickly and easily share files between PC and Android phone with this Nearby Sharing feature. But thanks to the good relations between Google and Samsung, this feature has been renamed to Quick Share, which is a well-known feature for Galaxy users.

File sharing

The Nearby Share function is no stranger to Android users. This useful feature allows users to share photos, videos, files, links, or Wi-Fi passwords with nearby Android, Chromebooks, and Windows devices. This feature came as an answer to the long-standing Apple AirDrop.

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Due to the close relationship between Google and Samsung, the Nearby Share function has now been renamed. It will be renamed Quick Share, which will look familiar to Samsung users. Both features use Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi Direct to find nearby devices and transfer files.

Nearby sharing versus quick sharing

But what is the result of this combination of Nearby Share and Quick Share? The first difference that pops up is that Quick Share only works on Galaxy devices. The second important difference is that Samsung's Quick Share feature can share with up to 5 devices at a time, unlike Nearby Share with the ability to share with only one device at a time.

Additionally, file transfer limits vary. Nearby Sharing caps at 500 files per day of unlimited size, and Fast Sharing allows files up to 1GB in size, with a maximum of 5GB per day. Finally, Samsung's current Quick Share feature only works on Galaxy devices, but steps are being taken to fix that.

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It's not yet clear what the underlying functionality is and what the new Quick Share feature can do. But integration should lead to the disappearance of differences. According to Google, the new Quick Share feature will be rolled out to all Nearby Share devices next month.