The rebranded and improved version of Nearby Share, called Quick Share, has begun rolling out to some Google Pixel phones. This rebranding was confirmed to be happening by Google back in early January of this year. It’s not just a name change either. Quick Share is aiming to be better than Nearby Share in a multitude of ways, and truly give Apple’s AirDrop a run for its money.
The change has begun appearing on some Pixel phones
Quick Share isn’t going to be a unified rollout, it appears. Users have reported that they’ve noticed their Nearby Share option has switched to Quick Share without any alerts. When using it for the first time, a small popup shows up to inform the user of the name change. The popup doesn’t mention anything else, probably so the average consumer isn’t bombarded with technical jargon.
Mishaal Rahman, considered to be an expert on Android, tweeted about the change showing up across certain devices. He cites X user @android_setting for the tip, however. Commenters corroborated the reports by sharing their own experiences. It seems it’s only some Google Pixel phones that are receiving this update, including the Pixel Fold. The reason for this, as Mishaal pointed out, might be because Google’s Quick Share and Samsung’s Quick Share are different. Google’s version is the version that will be making its way to all Android phones eventually. Meanwhile, Samsung’s Quick Share will operate solely on Samsung devices.
How does Quick Share improve on Nearby Share?
Quick Share came about as a collaboration between Samsung and Google. The two tech giants teamed up to produce a truly competitive alternative to AirDrop. Quick Share was initially just a Samsung feature, but Google is now rebranding its Nearby Share to the same name as part of the joint effort. It will be increasing the limit on the file sizes allowed to be shared between devices.
The two companies will also be designing their services so they do not conflict with each other. Google’s version of Quick Share, for example, will be disabled on Samsung devices. However, Samsung’s version will be perfectly compatible with Google’s. Furthermore, Google has started trying to get PC manufacturers to install Quick Share in their products. If these proposals go through, Android and Windows could finally see the sort of unity Apple fans enjoy.
Quick Share is probably going to start rolling out much faster pretty soon. The average user might not even notice it appear, but they will get used to the utility of it soon enough.
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