Are you interested in Android Nearby Share ? Want to know more about that ? Then you might be in the right place.
Google has finally started sharing its file-sharing services like AirDrop – Android Nearby Share for Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and later for Android phones. Once you’re close to sharing your device, you can turn on this service from your phone’s Quick Settings. A dedicated QS toggle will appear for permission; you can access this service after that.
But before starting everything, let’s see what Android Nearby Share is.
What is Android Nearby Share?
Android’s Nearby Share is a process that makes the Data transfer process easier for Android Users. It is a long-awaited instant file sharing feature for Android devices. This instant sharing feature has been published for several years after its development. For that reason, the nearby Share is available for Android 6.0 and later. So Android Nearby Share promotes an easy and fast way to share data and files of Android phones. Android Nearby share is an AirDroid feature for Android mobile.
The service of Nearby Share is straightforward. The sender chooses the file and shares it via Android Nearby Share. The sender’s device is looking for available devices when the sender finds that desired Receiver’s machine, taps on the Receiver’s avatar to initiate the transfer.
Why use Android Nearby share?
Android Nearby Share eliminates the hassle of opening an app, finding a contact, finding a file, and clicking the Share or Send button. This allows you to quickly and instantly share across a list of nearby devices. Once you have selected the file and Receiver, you will receive a notification to whom you will transfer the file, whether the Receiver will accept or reject the file.
Therefore, Nearby Share will choose the best way to share quickly and easily using Bluetooth, Low Energy, WebRTC or Peer-to-Peer Wi-Fi. Nearby shares allow you to transfer files even when you’re offline.
Comparing it with Xender, Shareit & other file transfer apps
Xender
Xender is a great alternative to Android Nearby Share to transfer files from Android to Android. It works on Wi-Fi and mobile hotspots, so you don’t have to worry about using your mobile data when sharing large video files between devices.
But xender has many unwanted ads and pop-ups in the free version, which can be a little annoying. It also has some problems connecting different models.
SHAREit
SHAREit is one of the most popular, oldest and best file sharing apps for Android. It also works cross-platform to share files from Android over to your iPhone, other iOS devices, and Windows PC.
This fast file transfer app is free on various platforms but supported by ads and other features offered by its developers, which can be annoying at times. This app encountered some security issues. This platform also has a lot of ads and limited features.
For this reason, you can avoid that apk and switch to Android Nearby Share.
How to use it (turn on, send, receive etc)
Nearby Share is an instant file transfer tool that lets you share photos, web pages, and other media to other Android devices. When transferring any media, Nearby Share uses Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or WebRTC to share files online or offline easily.
But make sure that for hassle-free file transfers, the sender and the recipient need to enable a nearby share on their device.
Let’s see how to turn on Android Nearby Share
- Go to settings
- Find Google and then Device Connections.
- Now click on Nearby Share.
- After that, turn the toggle ON.
- Then, click on Device Visibility.
- Here you can select a few contacts of your choice, you can see.
Additionally, you can change the settings and either share with all contacts or with some selected references or hide your device.
No worries, you can still freely transfer files to others, but they won’t be able to share anything with you using nearby shares.
How to use Nearby Share on your Android phone
Let’s see how to initiate a Nearby Share on your phone to share something with a contact. It’s as easy as sharing anything on your phone with any other app. Let’s see the process.
- Tap on the share icon to share something. (It looks like three dots connecting with a line vertically).
- Swipe up on the Android share menu.
- Tap on the nearby share icon.
- After that, tap on the turn on to enable nearby Share.
- Nearby Share will give you a contact list to share your link.
- Available phones will appear on your phone’s screen. (As an example, it’s Nick’s phone)
- Tap on the contact you want to share with.
You can use nearby shares to share links, files, and other items on your phone, so feel free to play with it and use it to share all kinds of things. You can also share files and items with the best Chromebook and Android phone.
How to accept a Nearby Share on your Android phone
That way, you share something with someone else, but what does the whole process look like from another angle? If you receive a file via nearby Share, that is how you will see it.
- Tap on a nearby share notification pop-up.
- Tap on the turn on.
- Your phone will search for what is being shared with you
- Tap on the Accept to accept the shared item.
Again, we’re dealing with a spotless and straightforward user interface, making the Nearby Share surprisingly easy to use.
How to send apps via Nearby Share on your Android phone
A feature recently added to Nearby Share is sending apps from Google Play to other (nearby) Android users.
- Open the Google Play app from the phone you want to share.
- After that, tap your profile picture in the top right corner.
- Then tap on the Manage apps & device.
- Tap Send next to the app sharing option.
- But for the Receiver’s phone, follow the same steps as above, but then tap on the Receiver.
- Select the apps you want to send from the sender’s phone and tap the green send arrow in the upper right corner.
- After that, select the Receiver you wish to send apps from the sender’s phone.
- The Receiver must then confirm the pairing code.
- The Receiver will choose which app(s) to install.
Now the apps will quickly reach from the sender to the Receiver. And after all, you don’t have to be on the same Wi-Fi or cellular network to share apps – it all works via Bluetooth!
How to Download Nearby share for android
As you can see, Nearby Share of Android is a default feature. If it is not installed by default, then either your phone doesn’t support that feature, or you have to fix the features. When your device doesn’t support nearby Share as a feature. There is no other way to install it. But if your device supports that apk and faces problems like it doesn’t work for you or isn’t present on your phone, you should try some tips and tricks to make it work.
Make sure the feature is available for you.
As we said earlier, there are lots of devices that don’t support Android Nearby Share. All Google Pixel phones and some selected Samsung devices support this feature. You can quickly check if your device has a nearby sharing feature via Settings. If it is not available, then don’t worry. Google just announced that Nearby Share would be launched in the “next few weeks” for almost all Android devices running Android 6.0 and higher.
Another thing to note is that for shared shares to work, both devices must-have features available.
Make sure no one else is sharing content to the devices
Sometimes one device is likely to be in active-sharing mode with another phone. At the time, Google did not allow sharing multiple devices with nearby shares.
And if one phone is busy sharing content on another device (without even sharing nearby), you won’t be able to establish a connection with that busy device using ‘Nearby Share.’ This way, you need to ensure that no one else is currently sharing content with the device sent or received.
Check Device visibility settings.
When you’re unable to accept using nearby shares, chances are you’ve changed the visibility settings for nearby share devices. Google lets you choose between three options for device visibility: All contacts, some contacts, and Hidden. If you’ve previously chosen to hide your device’s visibility, none of your acquaintances or anonymous users will be able to identify your device in the Nearby Share list. This way, you should either add the relevant sender who is trying to share the content with you Nearby Share or change the visibility of the device to ‘All contacts’ for smooth sharing. You can access it by going to nearby Share and tapping on the device’s visibility box.
Make sure both devices are close enough.
Nearby shares are designed to work when both sending and receiving devices are nearby. On its support page, Google confirms that both phones must be within 30 centimeters (11.81 inches) of each other for Nearby Share to work. Devices should enable the sender to identify the receiving phone, establish a connection, and share files without interruption.
Update Google Play services
In general, Google Play services will automatically update in the background. But sometimes, this does not happen for some reason. You need to update the Google Play service manually. If you cannot do so, look at various ways to fix that Play Services will not be updated.
Clear cache for play services
Clearing cache and data is a beneficial and working method to fix something. But remember clearing the cache will not delete any files from your phone.
To clear the cache:
- Go to the settings and then the app.
- Find Google Play services on it.
- Tap on it.
- Tap on the storage and then clear the cache. If the problem persists, tap on Clear Data or Clear Storage, depending on the options available.
- Restart the phone.
Rather than that, you can also try
- Restart your device
- Enable Bluetooth and location services
- Check whether nearby Share is on or not
- Turn ON Airplane mode and then OFF
Also Read: Nearby share between Android and Windows
Conclusion
If you are still interested in trying the Android Nearby Share feature, try signing up for the Nearby Share beta program for Google Play Services. When using the beta program, be aware of its pitfalls and challenges.
In short, is Nearby Share just like AirDrop for Android? We can say this because it allows you to send files, photos, and URLs to other Android devices using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (as AirDrop does to other Apple devices).