What you need to know
- The latest beta version of Google Play services hints at a drag-and-drop feature for Quick Share, similar to what’s already available on Windows.
- Currently, Quick Share doesn’t support drag-and-drop on larger Android devices like tablets and foldables.
- The feature was showcased in a demo, but it's still in development and files aren’t transferring yet.
Google’s Quick Share, the Android version of Apple's AirDrop, is set to get a big upgrade that could make sharing files on Android tablets a lot easier.
Recent insights from the beta version of Google Play services, courtesy of Android Authority, hint at a new drag-and-drop feature coming to Quick Share on Android. It looks like it’ll work much like the current Quick Share experience on Windows.
Although Google's Quick Share has made it easier to transfer files between devices, it doesn't work the same across all platforms. While you can drag and drop files on Windows with Quick Share, this handy capability is still missing on larger Android devices like tablets and foldables.
But an APK teardown of the latest Google Play Services beta (24.34.32) shows that Google is working on adding drag-and-drop capability to Quick Share.
For the uninitiated, Quick Share is a handy app that makes it easy to transfer files between devices wirelessly. It works across Android phones, tablets, Chromebooks, and Windows PCs, offering a great option for those who don’t use Apple products.
But people using tablets and foldable devices currently have to go through a few steps to share files on Android—selecting the files, tapping the Share button, and then choosing from the sharesheet, which includes Quick Share among other options. So, adding a simple drag-and-drop gesture would make file sharing on larger screens much easier and more intuitive.
More importantly, the upcoming drag-and-drop capability will help close the gap between Android and Windows, giving Android users a level of ease similar to what Windows users enjoy.
While Android Authority got the feature up and running and gave a demo of what it can do, it's not fully operational yet. The video shows that users can drag multiple files to the recipient's name, but the files aren’t actually transferring at this stage.
