Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
TL;DR
- An Android Authority teardown has uncovered just how Quick Share will work for iPhones.
- Android owners can share a QR code with iPhone users to let them download files.
- However, files shared with iPhone users via Quick Share will first be uploaded to the cloud and retained for 24 hours.
We’ve known since last year that Google is working on bringing Quick Share to iOS and MacOS. We recently discovered more evidence of the feature coming to iPhones, as well as hints that senders would need to sign in to their Google account. At the time, we weren’t sure how this would all work. But it now looks like we have an answer.
We conducted a teardown of the Google Play Services app (version 25.37.31 beta) and activated screens showing how Quick Share will work for iPhones. Check out these screens below.
The first screen shows that you’ll need to use a QR code to transfer from Android to iPhones and other devices. Transferring from Android to Android? Then you can stick with the current transfer method, as the Android-toting recipient opens Quick Share on their own phone to accept the incoming files. However, you can also use the QR-based method for offline Android-to-Android transfers.
The fourth image above also confirms that content sent from Android to iPhone via Quick Share will be encrypted and uploaded to Google’s servers first. These files will be stored for 24 hours so the iPhone user can download them. This approach differs significantly from Android-to-Android sharing, which takes place offline.
Don’t want to miss the best from Android Authority?
In other words, Quick Share functionality for iPhones requires an internet connection. That makes it less convenient than Quick Share for Android to Android, which works offline. This approach would mean you can’t transfer files from Android to iPhone if you’re on a plane with no Wi-Fi, in the wilderness outside of cellular coverage, or in other similar situations. This internet requirement also likely explains our previous discovery that Android users needed a Google account for sharing files with iPhone owners.
This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen internet-based transfers like this, though. Samsung’s own Quick Share utility lets you upload files to Samsung Cloud for sharing with distant contacts. Recipients simply need to scan a QR code to begin the download. So it’s clear Google is copying Samsung in this regard to facilitate iPhone transfers. In fact, we previously discovered that Google’s Quick Share could intercept Samsung Quick Share links.
⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
Thank you for being part of our community. Read our Comment Policy before posting.
