Google could roll out Nearby Share to devices running Android 6 and up in August

Google’s AirDrop-like Nearby Share feature is reportedly coming in August.

XDA Developers’ editor-in-chief, Mishaal Rahman, tweeted about the impending release of Nearby Share. The search giant reportedly told manufacturers it planned to roll out Nearby Share to all Android devices running 6.0 Marshmallow and higher next month.

Although Rahman says he can’t verify if that plan is still accurate, he does note the information came from a recent source.

Currently, Nearby Share is available to some users in beta. At the end of June, the feature became available through a limited test for users running the Google Play Services beta. Since then, the feature has also turned up for users on the stable Play Services channel.

For now, it appears the availability is part of a limited server-side test. Only a small number of users have reported getting the feature. Many of those people are running the Android 11 beta as well.

Google told OEMs that Nearby Share, Google's AirDrop-like file-sharing service, rolls out to all Android (6.0+) devices in August.

Can't confirm if that's the plan as of now, but this info came from a recent source.

Currently in beta for some users: https://t.co/7GMct2A9kI

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) July 17, 2020

If Google’s beta testing has gone well, then an August release makes sense. Further, with the company expected to launch the Pixel 4a soon, it could officially announce Nearby Share at the same time.

Nearby Share, previously called Fast Share, will let people send files, images and more between Android devices using wireless communication technology like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Based on leaked information, Nearby Share should work more like Apple’s AirDrop feature, allowing users to detect nearby devices and request to send content.

Some phones currently offer Android Beam, an older feature that lets people use NFC to initiate wireless communication to send files between devices. Nearby Share won’t require physical contact between devices like Android Beam did, a welcome improvement given the current pandemic.

Although still a rumour, I wouldn’t be surprised if the August release proved true. Expect more details the turn up in the coming weeks as we near the August release.

Source: Mishaal Rahman (Twitter)