What you need to know
- Google is gearing up to add group transfer support to Nearby Share.
- Once the feature rolls out, you'll be able to connect to up to four other Android devices at once.
- Google is also working on adding support for sharing entire folders to Nearby Share.
Google finally launched its highly-anticipated answer to Apple's AirDrop last year, called "Nearby Share." The feature makes it possible to easily share content both online and offline with other Android devices that are in your proximity. In addition to Android phones, you can also use the feature to send files to the best Chromebooks. While Nearby Share isn't quite as feature-rich as AirDrop currently, that could soon change.
Google's Nearby Share is preparing to add group transfer support. Right now, it seems you'll be able to connect to a maximum of 4 other devices but can only transfer to 1 at a time. I was able to get it to let me try connecting to two devices but it then fails immediately. pic.twitter.com/8tuaGPUyB6Google's Nearby Share is preparing to add group transfer support. Right now, it seems you'll be able to connect to a maximum of 4 other devices but can only transfer to 1 at a time. I was able to get it to let me try connecting to two devices but it then fails immediately. pic.twitter.com/8tuaGPUyB6— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) March 12, 2021March 12, 2021
As per XDA Editor-in-Chief Mishaal Rahman, Google is working on adding group transfer support to Nearby Share. While you can only share content with one device at a time right now, you'll be able to connect to up to four devices at once after group transfer support is rolled out.
The feature will likely begin rolling out to Android devices sometime in the near future with a Play Services update and is expected to be backwards compatible with older versions as well. Aside from group transfer support, Google is also said to be working on bringing support for sharing entire folders to Nearby Share. Needless to say, both these features will make Nearby Share even more useful than it is currently.
