What you need to know
- Google is expanding Quick Share beyond Pixel phones, with Samsung, Oppo, OnePlus, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Honor joining the rollout this year.
- Android users can now share files with iPhones through QR code cloud transfers, reducing one of the platform’s biggest everyday frustrations.
- Quick Share is also heading directly into apps like WhatsApp, making file sharing faster and less clunky.
Google finally addressed one of Android’s most annoying issues when it partnered with Apple late last year to make Android’s file-sharing app, Quick Share, compatible with AirDrop. At The Android Show: I/O Edition 2026, the firm revealed a slew of updates to make Android more connected and intelligent, with Quick Share and device migration seeing some of the greatest changes to yet.
In the past, Android users have had a rough sharing experience. Sending a video or photo between different brands often often forced you to resort to slow uploads, third-party apps, or awkward workarounds.
Google today revealed that its AirDrop equivalent, Quick Share, is coming to more Android phones outside Google Pixel smartphones. More Android brands including Samsung, Oppo, OnePlus, Vivo, Xiaomi and Honor are joining the rollout this year. The Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Vivo X300 Ultra started receiving support for AirDrop sharing in April.
That change might drastically minimize the friction for Android users who routinely jump between brands. Quick Share is being pitched as a more universal solution that works across a wider Android environment instead of having to worry about whether someone has the right phone.
No compatible device? Use a QR code
Google is also rolling out a solution for users with incompatible devices or even iPhones. Starting now, Android users can generate a QR code through Quick Share that lets files transfer instantly to iOS devices through the cloud.
And Google isn’t stopping at system-level sharing. The company says Quick Share will soon appear directly inside apps, including WhatsApp.
Furthermore, Google seems increasingly focused on reducing the pain points that keep people locked into rival ecosystems. Switching from an iPhone to Android has historically been one of those pain points. Transferring years of data often felt unreliable or simply intimidating for less tech-savvy users. Google says it worked with Apple to overhaul the entire iOS-to-Android migration process.
The updated system can wirelessly move passwords, photos, messages, apps, contacts, and even a user’s home screen layout from an iPhone to an Android device. It also supports eSIM transfers, which removes another major headache during setup.
Google said the enhanced wireless transfer experience will roll out first to Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel devices later this year.
Android Central's Take
To call fundamental interoperability — like finally being able to transfer a file across platforms without it appearing like it was shot on a potato — a massive revolution is a bit rich. The benefits for normal users cannot be denied, but as someone who keeps devices for years and deliberately overlooks the fancy marketing phrases, I will reserve my opinion on this alleged agentic Gemini era. All I want is a phone that ages well, robust and reliable, not an over-hyped intelligence system that gets too sidetracked by its own capabilities to merely work.
