Business is about to pick up! Google has been working on Nearby Share, a fast, local file sharing solution very similar to AirDrop, for Android for quite a while. And despite several leaks, the search engine giant is yet to officially announce it.
Now we know why.
It looks like Google’s file sharing service will have a few key advantages over the competition, in that it will work with a much wider range of platforms. Not only will Android users be able to send and receive files, Nearby Share will also work with PCs running Windows, macOS, Chrome OS, even Linux.
This latest leak provides a few pointers:
Nearby Sharing shows up in #chromebook settings pic.twitter.com/Z2V5UrgPT4
— Dinsan (@_dinsan) June 19, 2020
As can be seen above, the Nearby Share option is already showing up in Chromebooks, which is our clearest hint yet that Google wants to bring this feature to more than just Android devices. Rolling it out for Windows and all other major PC platforms is just taking things to another level.
Google initially called its file sharing service Fast Share, before it was eventually renamed to Nearby Share in the later stages of the development process.
When the feature does launch, it will have a lot of company, that’s for sure.
That’s due to the fact that a number of Android OEMs have already come up with their very own fast, file sharing protocols, including the likes of Samsung, OPPO, OnePlus, Realme, Xiaomi, and even a few smaller ones.
Windows 10, of course, has the Near Share feature that does a fine job of it.
A truly universal file sharing solution would have been excellent here.
But this is as close as we might get.
