This one feature fixed the worst part of using Android and Apple together

There are lots of perks to sticking to a single ecosystem. You get cross-platform sharing and connected features that are so convenient you don’t even want to break out of that bubble. A big reason for that is simple: removing even one piece from the equation feels so jarring that you instantly want to jump back into the ecosystem’s cozy arms. And that’s exactly what companies bank on to keep you buying more of their products.

But sticking to one ecosystem isn’t practical for everyone — it certainly isn’t for me. Covering tech means I have to stay in touch with everything on the market, from Android and Windows to iPhone and Fire TV. And I live by it, too. My main computer is a MacBook, I shuffle between an iPhone and a Pixel 10, and my smart home setup runs on Google Home speakers along with Google TV sticks and TVs. And that’s just me. Some of my family members use an iPhone with a Windows laptop, while others have an Android phone.

Sure, I can build an ecosystem for myself to a certain degree, but it falls apart as soon as I go beyond my primary laptop and phone. When I’m using the Pixel, I’m always scratching my head about how to send a file or link from my laptop to the phone or vice versa, because Bluetooth not only feels primitive but also painfully slow.

My current workarounds

No workday goes by without me having to move files between my laptop and the Pixel 10, and I always have to take a moment to count my options and pick whatever’s convenient and works best for the file type. On the iPhone, the same task is instinctive because AirDrop is the default for anything nearby.

As a makeshift solution, I’ve been using NearDrop on my Mac. It is my app of choice when I’m sending stuff from my Android phones, and it works just as reliably as AirDrop. I can leave it open in the background permanently, though it takes just a tap to open the app when I need to transfer something. The only problem is that it worked in just one direction and didn’t allow transfers from the Mac to the Pixel, though a QR-based patchwork did try to solve that hindrance.

But ever since Google made AirDrop interoperable, things have been so seamless it almost feels dreamlike. If you see me teary-eyed at my desk, know that I just AirDropped something from my Mac to my Pixel 10.

AirDrop fitting into my routine

AirDrop is already part of my daily life. It’s so second nature now that it’s practically a verb, the way you “Google” something — my friends ask me to “AirDrop” group photos before parting ways. Between the iPhones my family and friends have, and for my own transfers to my Mac, AirDrop is the default, most logical, and fastest solution compared to Google Drive or emailing myself.

The only piece that felt out of place was my Pixel and the other Android devices in my family. And the only real option with them was WhatsApp or the long route of uploading things to Google Photos or Drive and then downloading them again. But not anymore. The myriads of screenshots I take now go straight to the laptop without any third-party apps in the middle or tedious workarounds. And I can finally uninstall NearDrop from my Mac — Google has made it redundant.

But more than that, I can’t discount the sheer convenience of sharing across devices and platforms from the same interface. I can see it becoming muscle memory soon. And it’s genuinely fascinating seeing Macs and iPhones show up in Quick Share on Android, making file transfers as mindless as a tap. That said, it’s not without issues.

The gap is in the Air(Drop)

Honestly, I scoffed (with an audible breath out!) when I first read that Google had achieved AirDrop and Quick Share interoperability. It sounded too improbable, given Apple’s strict control over how non-Apple devices connect to its network. But I was surprised by how smoothly things go when you’re sending a file, and everything is in order — devices show up quickly on either side, and transfers happen lightning-fast.

The key phrase being when everything is in order.

For starters, you need to update the Quick Share extension for the feature to work. It didn’t appear automatically for me for days, and I eventually had to install it from APKMirror. That was a one-time pain, so I won’t hold it against the feature. But device discovery can still be unreliable. I’ve had a couple of instances where my Apple devices didn’t appear on the Quick Share screen. And each time the connection does establish, Wi-Fi completely turns off — there’s no way to fix this bug, if it actually is one.

Additionally, both the iPhone and Android have to be visible to everyone, and Quick Share takes more taps to set that up each time. It adds unnecessary friction, but I guess that’s the price you pay for the convenience it now gets you. It’s still a miracle that Google achieved this without Apple’s help and at this level of polish. So, I’ll take this over my previous setup any day.

I want it everywhere

This AirDrop-Quick Share truce is a fantastic little thing — as long as you have a Pixel 10 series phone. Only these phones support the interoperability so far, and not even older Pixels are supported, let alone other Android phones. Now that I’ve tasted this convenience on my Pixel 10, I want it on every single Android phone. And if Google has come this far, that feels doable too.

When using a Mac and an iPhone, tons of continuity features make you feel part of the ecosystem, but if those features vanished one day, I wouldn’t miss them as much as I would AirDrop — it’s that important. Which is why I think this parity alone makes it incredibly easy to live with a MacBook while using an Android phone.

I want to be at concerts where everyone can AirDrop or Quick Share with everyone, and Android users don’t feel left out or never get to experience that strong community effect. That’s why I’d like to see this kind of cross-platform seamlessness in a few more places across Android and iPhone.