Android’s upcoming AirDrop-style sharing feature, called Nearby Share (and referred to also as Nearby Sharing), may also come to Chrome on numerous other platforms, 9to5Google reports. The feature will allow Android users to directly share photos, links, and other files with other devices, similar to how AirDrop works across macOS and iOS.
The feature has apparently started to show up in the settings of the latest build of Chrome OS Canary:
Originally called “Fast Share,” Android’s answer to AirDrop has been in development for more than a year, according to XDA Developers. It’s expected to be available through Google Play, and references in the code suggest that it will work not only on mobile Android devices but also on Chromebooks and other computers with Google’s Chrome browser installed.
A video by XDA Developers released earlier this year showed Nearby Share/Sharing baked into Android’s quick settings menu. It appeared to work best when the devices sharing the files were within a foot of each other.
It’s not clear when Nearby Share will officially debut, but given the amount of time since rumors about it first started, chances are it won’t be too much longer.
