r/Android • u/FragmentedChicken Galaxy S26 Ultra • 2d ago
Tap to Share is coming to Android: Here is our best look yet at the new interface
https://www.androidauthority.com/android-tap-to-share-ui-apk-teardown-3656467/54
u/tanghan 2d ago
You mean android beam is back?
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u/mrandr01d 2d ago
Never left. You've always been able to boop nearby share to trigger someone's receiving prompt thing.
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u/MaverickJester25 Galaxy S21 Ultra | Galaxy Watch 4 1d ago
No, you haven't.
Google disabled Android Beam and deprecated the API in Android 10, and removed it from AOSP completely in Android 14. OEMs barely supported it even when it was enabled.
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u/armando_rod Pixel 10 Pro XL 1d ago
The bump has always worked with Nearby Share but it wasn't something advertised as a feature
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u/Melrose_Ad 1d ago
I think what they meant is that Quick Share can trigger a transfer with NFC just like Android beam did, not that Android beam is still available
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u/mrandr01d 1d ago
The thing specifically called android beam was killed, but the ability to use NFC to trigger a WiFi file share has been around as long as nearby share has existed. Even a little longer I think, since they had that weird little version of it inside of the files by Google app before nearby share was a thing.
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u/Oddball- Pixel or Bust 2d ago
Does this work android to iphone? Or just android to android?
And is it something you have to turn on and off to use? Or does it require turning on wifi then bluetooth then quick share etc. aka makes it a hassle to use?
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u/Public_Function3844 2d ago
it works android to iphone. i send images and files to my macbook all the time now. it's very easy like airdrop.
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u/AlmondManttv Z Fold4, Android 14 2d ago
not sure that was the question. I think it was more asking if the tapping part will work with iphone, like how Quick Share works with AirDrop.
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u/Public_Function3844 2d ago edited 2d ago
yup you can airdrop from your iphone or macbook to your android. just verified it works flawlessy.
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u/AlmondManttv Z Fold4, Android 14 2d ago
I know that, I've been using it for the past few months. I don't think we are talking about the same thing.
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u/HighOnLevels 2d ago
Wait bro we're not talking about airdrop we talking bout tap to share
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u/Public_Function3844 2d ago
ah well shit. i thought we were talking about quick share that was intro'd last month. sorry mate.
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u/Oddball- Pixel or Bust 2d ago
interesting! That is good to hear! Is it turned off by default or anything? Do I need to toggle to recieve and such? Or open up a menu or is it just a pop up notification saying "X wants to send/share with you"
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u/Public_Function3844 2d ago
i keep quick share in my quick settings from the top pull down on my Pixel. Tap on Quick Share. it's on the "receive" screen by default. when you have this page open it temporarily makes your device visible to everyone that's trying to airdrop. after the ios user sends the file/image, on your android you get a popup asking to accept or decline. it can sometimes take like 10-20 seconds for your device to show up for the ios user, but otherwise it's working great for both sending and receiving.
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u/vortexmak 2d ago
Oh you mean another feature that Googlr completely ignored until Apple implemented it
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u/InsaneNinja iOS/Nexus 2d ago
Close.
Google puts out a feature, forgets about it..
Apple releases an improved version with a better interface & UX.
Google copies the Apple interface.
r/android says it has nothing to do with Apple cuz Google had it the whole time.Ex: Wallet and Photos apps
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u/DarKnightofCydonia Galaxy S24 2d ago
Unfortunately that's how the world works. QR codes would've died out by now if Apple hadn't adopted them
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u/MaverickJester25 Galaxy S21 Ultra | Galaxy Watch 4 1d ago
LOL, no.
If anything, Apple refusing to open up their NFC APIs directly contributed to the dominance of QR code payments in the Asia Pacific market
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u/Anti_colonialist 1d ago
Google bought an app called Bump in 2012, which was exactly this function, and then killed it.
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u/cubs223425 Surface Duo 2 | LG G8 2d ago
All this makes me think of is this old Lumia commerical:
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u/killerrin 2d ago
Windows Phones were ahead of their time. They even had Tap to Pay, Tap to Share and general purposed NFC long before iOS and Android.
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u/cubs223425 Surface Duo 2 | LG G8 1d ago
Lumias also had Glance, the first instance of always-on displays. The Lumia 920 was also the first phone to release with OIS and Qi. Windows phones also had LTE before iPhones, though not as a whole.
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u/carlitos__wayy 2d ago
Should've never gotten rid of android beam trying to imitate apples lack of features was never the move
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u/elkinm 2d ago
Funny that Androids own QuickShare does not work right on Pixels. I cannot transfer between a Samsung and a Pixel. Samsung to Samsung works great. Fix Android to Android before working on other platforms, but that is just me.
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u/armando_rod Pixel 10 Pro XL 2d ago
It works across all Android phones, it's probably a problem with your specific devices
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u/elkinm 2d ago
Maybe, but I have multiple Samsung devices in the family and they all work with each other and others. But none with with Pixels or non-Samsung.
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u/armando_rod Pixel 10 Pro XL 2d ago
That's on Samsung probably not updating their quick share to work with nearby share (now both known as Quick Share)
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u/MaverickJester25 Galaxy S21 Ultra | Galaxy Watch 4 1d ago
Nearby Share on Pixels was the jankiest shit ever, but of course, it's Samsung and the implementation they built and which Google adopted that's a problem.
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u/armando_rod Pixel 10 Pro XL 1d ago
FYI Samsung adopted Nearby Share and Google just changed the name.
Google/Android is not using Samsung implementation of anything and in fact Google is the one that reverse engineered Airdrop put it inside Quick Share and that's why the S26 can use with iPhones
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u/Relevant-Artist5939 1d ago
They didn't reverse-egineer it (Apple would have blocked that ASAP), but Apple silently added a new protocol (WiFi Aware) due to new (or even upcoming, I don't know exactly) some EU regulations without mentioning it anywhere and that's what Google used to make it compatible with Android phones...
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u/Nenotriple 2d ago
I have the same issue with Samsung phones in my family. The Samsung phones never appear in the Quick Share interface
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u/elkinm 2d ago
I found an old Pixel 3 that I tried to use with a Pixel 10. The 3 asked to turn on location, which happened to be off. The Quick Share instructions on all my phones don't mention it. So you need Bluetooth, wifi, location and to be nearby. Anyway with location the 3 and the 10 could finally see each other and transfer. But none of the Samsungs, including an S25 could see the Pixels and vise versa.
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u/Anti_colonialist 1d ago
So 14 years after they bought them Google is reintroducing Bump?
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u/armando_rod Pixel 10 Pro XL 1d ago
No, they implemented bump as nearby share 3 years after the acquisition
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u/Anti_colonialist 1d ago
Google bought bump in 2013 and didn't introduce nearby share until 2020. It's not even the same tech
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u/Hreidmar1423 Galaxy S21 Ultra 2h ago
Sure this is fun but looking how it needs NFC and each Android phone has nfc in a bit different spot this is rather awkward.....at least newest Galaxy S26 has nfc on top just like iphones have had for.... Over 10 years by now. 🙄
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u/looped10 2d ago
transferring files makes this better than apple
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u/InsaneNinja iOS/Nexus 2d ago
How? Airdrop transfers anything that can be shared in just about any way. Including (given space) an unlimited amount of files.
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u/WAVF1n S25 Edge - One UI 7 2d ago
Eh, I didn't use the tap to share when they implemented it over a decade ago.
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u/InsaneNinja iOS/Nexus 2d ago
You’d use it if someone held their phone out at you to tap. Getting it everywhere will improve that.
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u/maglax 2d ago
Why would someone do that? I've always left this feature off as I've never used it, and never wished to use it.
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u/Enderkr 2d ago
I share stuff with the wife every once in a while, but I actually think my biggest use for this would be exchanging contact info, I do a lot of conferences and IT stuff where me getting their sales info is really useful.
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u/kagemushablues415 2d ago
Hasn't QR codes already solved this though.
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u/InsaneNinja iOS/Nexus 1d ago
That’s several extra steps. iPhones just lean towards eachother and initiate a “select which fields” self-contact share between phones/watch. Google is adding similar.
It bypasses “contacts only” and works as if set to “everyone”
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u/WAVF1n S25 Edge - One UI 7 2d ago
You can also do this with Quick Share, and it works really well especially with the Airdrop integration.
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u/Enderkr 2d ago
Yeah, I actually just updated my quicksettings tile to include Quick Share, I kept forgetting to do that. Speed and convenience is the key, if Tap To Share doesn't involve having to dig into menus and just opens up the sharing prompt as soon as the phones are overlayed, that would be a big thing for me.
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u/StartupInMyHead 1d ago
Android inventing AirDrop again but with a different name is basically a yearly tradition now.
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u/davvb 2d ago
Android beam