AirDrop Now Works With Android, Thanks to Google’s Reverse Engineering

The more interesting story here is not the device list: it’s that cross-platform AirDrop, something Apple resisted for years, has quietly become a practical reality less than a year after Google flipped the switch.

Google added AirDrop interoperability to Quick Share in November 2025, and the feature works through Apple’s own AirDrop interface on the iPhone side. An iPhone user sending a file to an Android device sees no meaningful difference from sending to another Apple device. That framing matters because Apple did not build this bridge, Google did, by reverse-engineering compatibility into Quick Share rather than waiting for Apple to open anything up.

The expanded device list now covers a wide spread of Android hardware:

• Samsung Galaxy S24 through S26 series, plus Z Fold6, Z Fold7, Z Flip6, Z Flip7, and the Z TriFold
• Google Pixel 8a through the full Pixel 10 lineup
• Third-party devices from HONOR, OnePlus, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo

A Few Practical Friction Points

The handshake still requires some manual setup. Android users must enable “Share with Apple devices,” and iPhone users need AirDrop set to “Everyone for 10 minutes,” which is not the default. That extra step will trip up casual users who don’t know to look for it.

For Android devices outside the compatible list, Google offers a QR code fallback that routes files through the cloud. It works, but it is a different experience from the direct peer-to-peer transfer that makes AirDrop feel fast in the first place.

Google says Motorola Razr Fold 2026, OPPO Find X8 series, and HONOR Magic8 Pro are coming in the next few months. The feature also extends beyond iPhones to iPads and Macs, which Google mentions almost in passing despite that being a meaningfully larger surface area for people working across ecosystems.