What you need to know
- Samsung is working on an AirDrop-like sharing service for its Galaxy phones.
- The new feature will be called Quick Share and will most likely launch with the Galaxy S20 on February 11.
- XDA was able to get an APK for Quick Share from its source with a Galaxy S20+ 5G but was unable to get it to function on current Galaxy flagship phones.
Samsung is set to unveil its latest flagship phone next month, and as per usual, the closer the date gets, the more information that leaks. Earlier today, we learned that the Galaxy S20 could come with the refresh rate set to 60Hz out of the box, instead of the maximum 120Hz the new phones are said to support.
Now, the guys over at XDA have found another new tidbit about a nearby sharing feature Samsung has been working on. Quick Share, as it is so aptly named, looks to add AirDrop like functionality to Samsung's Galaxy phones, allowing users to send files to one another, presumably in a quick manner.
XDA was even able to get their hands on the APK for Quick Share from its source who has access to a Galaxy S20+ 5G. Unfortunately, even after installing the APK on a pair of Samsung phones, they were unable to get it to function. Meaning, after the feature debuts with the Galaxy S20, we'll have to wait for Samsung to push out software updates to previous Galaxy phones to make it work. That is, if Samsung chooses to add it to previous generations of its phones, and really why wouldn't it?
Even though the guys at XDA weren't able to get it to function, they were still able to learn some about how Quick Share will work once it launches. For starters, there will be two options for who you can share files with. You can choose to receive or send files to anyone with a supported device by choosing "Everyone", or select "Contacts-only" which will restrict sharing with only people in your contacts list.
When it comes to sending the files, Quick Share appears to have a cloud component that will upload files to Samsung Cloud temporarily before sharing. The files can be up to 1GB in size with a limit of 2GB per day.
Quick Share is the latest attempt we've seen to take on Apple's convenient AirDrop sharing service, but it's not the only one. Currently, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo have a peer-to-peer alliance and plan on launching their very own sharing service that will work across its phones.
However, all of these efforts may be for naught, as Google has had its Nearby Sharing feature (formerly Fast Share) in the works for a while now that should work across all Android devices. One thing is for certain though, Android has a sharing problem, and it looks like 2020 is the year it might get fixed.
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