Recently, Korean brand Samsung and internet search giant Google joined forces to integrate their respective file transfer, Quick Share and Nearby Share functions. Now, all Android devices will have a standard function for sending files between them, regardless of the manufacturer brand. With this, Samsung and Google seek to establish a single way to transfer documents and other files on their devices. Below, we explain everything you need to know about Quick Share, the new way to transfer files between Android phones.
What is QuickShare?
Sharing files between devices is a very useful feature which is incorporated into all modern mobile phones, tablets and computers. For example, the Apple ecosystem has the option called AirDrop to transfer files between the brand's products. And this is done by proximity, without the need for the mobile phone or computer to be connected to the same network.
In the case of Android devices, there are different ways to transfer files depending on the manufacturer brand. Until now, The vast majority of Android phones have the Nearby option (native to Google), which also works for sending files to Windows and macOS computers. Other brands have their own alternative, such as Share Me on Xiaomi and Quick Share from Samsung.
Thus, if you try to share a file from an Android mobile, you will see the Nearby function among the sending options. Along with it, the alternative of the mobile manufacturer brand also appears, and the other means of transfer (messaging apps, Bluetooth, email, etc.). For several years, Quick Share has been Samsung's proposal to send files between your devices quickly and securely.
Now, everything seems to indicate that the proposal of Samsung will become the standard means of exchanging files between all Android phones. This thanks to the Korean brand's recent partnership with Google to create faster and more secure file transfer technology.
Samsung and Google create Quick Share
Samsung and Google announced during the CES 2024 fair a new collaboration to integrate the Quick Share file transfer service on Android devices. This feature, native to Samsung, allows you to easily share photos, videos, documents and other files with nearby Samsung devices. The new alliance with Google will allow The feature is also compatible with other Android devices using the Nearby Share app (Google's standard approach to sending files between phones).
What does all of the above mean? Well then Samsung's transfer service will replace Nearby Share on Android phones and will become the new standard method file transfer. This way, it will be less confusing for users to find and use this function to send from one Android phone to another. The new function will take the name that the Samsung mobile transfer system already had, Quick Share, but it will undoubtedly have some additions and greater performance.
How does Quick Share work?
Quick Share/ Samsung
The first thing you need to know about Quick Share is that It will come pre-installed on all Android phones as part of its operating system. So it will not be necessary to download or install it from the Play Store, nor will it be necessary to use third-party apps to transfer files. Little by little, the change will be deployed on all Android phones, and the option to send files by proximity will no longer be called Nearby and will become Quick Share.
How this new option works will as simple as it was until now. You will only have to select a file on your mobile (photo, video, documents, app, etc.) and click on the Share button. Among the options to send, you can choose Quick Share, and the device will search for nearby mobile phones to begin the transfer.
But that is not all. This new technology will also work for sending files to Windows devices and on Chromebooks. In fact, Google is already working with the LG company so that its laptops incorporate this technology. The same is expected to happen with Samsung brand computers. In this way, the means of transferring files between devices will become standardized, as is the case with Apple brand products.
Something else to highlight in the new Quick Share is that retains functions that were exclusive to Samsung and that Google's Nearby did not have. For example, it will now be possible to control the level of privacy and be visible only to the chosen devices. And to customize the service, it is expected to have a section in the Android system settings.
When will it be available?
Quick Share is expected begin deployment from February 2024, and progressively replace Nearby on all Android phones. With the next updates to Google's operating system, the change will be visible in the Share menu. We are waiting to see how it works and what additions this new file transfer alternative created by Samsung and Google will have.