Google's Nearby Share to Come to Windows, Mac and Linux Soon

As an AirDrop alternative, Google is going to launch its ‘Nearby Share’ a file-sharing tech to more platforms like Windows, macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS very soon. Google has long been reported to be working on the Nearby Sharing feature in Android which will allow users to share files wirelessly to nearby devices.

Now, a new report suggests that the search giant plans on bringing the feature to Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS. The AirDrop-like feature was found in Chrome OS within the latest build of Chrome OS Canary and therefore the markup within the code clearly states the four operating systems it’ll eventually come to. Notably, this feature was also spotted in Android 11 Developer Preview 2 as ‘Fast Share.’

Google’s Nearby Share

According to 9to5Google’s report, the feature has been spotted in chrome://flags within the Chrome OS Settings app. The flag reads, “Enables Nearby Sharing for sharing content between devices. – Mac, Windows, Linux, Chrome OS.” this means that the feature is going to be implemented within the Windows, Mac, and Linux versions of Chrome, having already shown up in Chrome OS. it had been first spotted by Dinsan of Chrome Story who shared a picture showing “Nearby Share” toggle within the settings menu.

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Nearby Sharing shows up in #chromebook settings pic.twitter.com/Z2V5UrgPT4

9to5Google also noted that this feature doesn’t work as of now and enabling it by adding a flag in chrome://flags does nothing. As per the report, digging into the code of Chrome shows the “Enables Nearby Sharing functionality. Android already features a native implementation” string, suggesting that it’s an equivalent Nearby Sharing feature on both Chrome and Android.

Google’s Nearby Share was spotted in Android 11’s one among the developer versions back in March. When sharing files with Fast Share between two Pixel 4 devices, the operation completes successfully, but the UI on the device which receives the file states that it didn’t receive the file,” read the Android 11 release notes at that point. Google will presumably release this feature first for its Pixel 4 series going by the discharge notes.

Via