Apple’s AirDrop now works with Android’s quick share, Rolling out first on Pixel 10 series

The Apple-Android Cold War may be getting a bit too cold for users who regularly interact with both phones. In a deal that can only be described as historic in terms of bridging the gap between the two competing operating systems, Google and Apple will make the two devices’ native file transfer services interoperable with one another. The two companies are announcing interoperability between the Google-developed Quick Share and Apple’s AirDrop file-transfer system for the new Pixel 10 lineup.

The system is set to work such that the iPhones and the selected Android phones (Pixel 10 lineup, at least for now) are allowed to be shared through AirDrop’s “Everyone for 10 minutes” mode. The transmission mode will work with both operating systems using a peer-to-peer system such that the data sent from one system does not go through a server, and vice versa.

The Android system will work by establishing the connectivity using wireless communication with nearby AirDrop units and then wait to be discovered by a peer phone (iOS device). For Apple iPhones, it will be displayed on the AirDrop user interface as a new AirDrop-sharing group. As always, before the sharing process begins, both users will be asked to confirm that they are sharing with the correct person, after which the actual sharing can commence.

The platform, Google says, was developed with the memory-safe Rust programming language, an open-source programming language that Google touts as one that security agencies use to secure against low-level risks such as memory-safety and buffer overflow vulnerabilities. Google also has conducted internal, external and public security reviews of the platform with one external firm called NetSPI and found it to be, in a report, “notably stronger” than the privacy and security posture of the company’s original Quick Share-Android interface.

Currently, users will only be able to use the “Everyone for 10 minutes” sharing mode to share data between Android and iOS devices, and the sharing will be more limited in range than sharing strictly between Android and iOS devices. The more strict sharing mode, called “Contacts Only,” is not supported from Android to iOS but Google is working with Apple on future iterations of this connectivity that might see this problem fixed.

This service initially is rolling out with the Pixel 10 phone lineup, but Google has stated that it will also consider porting this connectivity to additional phone systems and networks in the future. For regular users, it will make it a lot easier to quickly share data between Android and iOS systems in groups, social, and work settings. It may also start to normalize and ease a potential disadvantage to iOS users in relation to easy data sharing between systems.

As for Apple, a representative for the company only said that the “update enables customers with Google Pixel 10 devices to connect with those using Apple products via AirDrop for a limited time when first setting up a new connection.” More development is likely to be done on interoperability between Android and iOS devices as Google and Apple edge closer to a more cooperative ecosystem with new security and cross-compatibility measures for Android phones in particular.