BySmartphone is a daily part of our life, today we carry a small powerful device, it can also be called a small computer.
With the help of this device, we take photos, videos and share other files. But until now the file-sharing medium was a bit complicated.
Sharing over Bluetooth was also time-consuming, and we had to use various third-party applications to share files over Wi-Fi.
A very popular file-sharing app for Android phones is ‘Share It’. This app makes it easy to share files with other Android phones.
Although there have been several alternatives to this app over a long time, it has always been popular as the first app. However, many people are currently looking for an alternative to the ‘Share It’ app.
Users are looking for an app that’s easier to use and has only the features they need. In this case, some are leaning towards different apps like Xiaomi’s ‘Me Share’ or ‘ShareMe’.
But many still don’t know that Google itself has officially come up with alternatives for Android phones.
‘Share It’ or such file-sharing apps work through WiFi. These apps can easily and quickly transfer files with other Android phones by connecting to the same WiFi.
Google’s ‘Nearby Share’ works similarly and is available on all Android phones from Android 6.0 onwards. Google introduced the feature similar to Apple’s AirDrop feature through an update in 2020.
In 2020, Google launched the Nearby Share beta to share files between Windows-based PCs and Android phones. Google has taken care of its speed and reliability in sharing files between Windows PCs and Android devices.
Recent updates to the app have increased file transfer rates and reduced crash rates while sending files. Nearly 1.7 million users have downloaded Nearby Share since its beta version release.
Besides, more than 50 million files have been transferred through it. While it is possible to send files in document, audio, and folder formats using Nearby Share, most of these 50 million transfers are image or video files.
Recently Google has released the stable version of Nearby Share. This stable will show an estimated time when transferring files to nearby shares in Windows since launch.
Through this, it will be possible to see how fast the file can be sent when a large file such as a video or an entire folder is sent.
Also, image previews can now be seen in nearby share notifications. This will ensure which file has arrived or which file has been sent.
Advantages and Disadvantages
The biggest advantage of Android’s Nearby Share feature is that there is no need to install any app separately on any Android phone.
If you want to use ‘Share It’ or such third-party apps, you need to have that app installed on both phones. Another benefit, no unwanted ads, apart from annoying notifications will not disturb your work. You can easily and quickly transfer files using ‘Nearby Share‘.
Launching Nearby Share is very easy. But before using the feature you need to enable it from settings.
- Open Settings.
- Tap on Connected devices.
- Go to Connection preferences.
- Select Nearby Share.
- Turn on the Use Nearby Share toggle.
Many devices may not have this option in their settings. In that case, search by writing Nearby Share from the search option of the settings and you will find it easily. Your phone must be a Google Play-supported phone.
After starting it like this, you can set who can find your device from the Device Visibility option.
- Hidden – Select the option so no one can find your device
- Contacts – Selecting this option will only find someone in your nearby phone contacts.
- Everyone – Selecting the option will allow everyone nearby to find your device.
You can also specify your device name from here. Besides, if you want to share files completely without using data or the internet, select Without Internet from the Data Usage option.
Google will also want to turn on your phone’s WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS with the launch of ‘Nearby Share’.
Without these 3 ‘Nearby Share’ cannot be used. Besides, if you don’t find the nearby share option on your phone, you can do the same with the Files by Google app.
After enabling ‘Nearby Share’, you can share photos, videos, apps, links, contact information, and even music from Spotify with another phone. You can even copy any text and share it.
- First you have to open the ‘Nearby Share’ of the phone to which you want to send files and select the correct option from Device Visibility so that you can find its device.
- Then select the file or something else you want to share and go to the share option.
- Select Nearby Share from the share option.
- After searching for a while it will show the device name to which you want to send the file. Select it.
- Now a pop-up will appear on the device where you sent the file asking for permission to receive the file. The transfer will start once permission is given.
The method of sharing any app through ‘Nearby Share’ is slightly different. For that, you need to use Google Play Store app.
- Open the Google Play Store app first.
- Tap on your profile picture.
- Select Manage apps & devices.
- Tap Send from the Share Apps option.
- Follow the above steps on the phone on which you will receive the app. Just tap on Receive instead of tap on Send.
- Now select the app and send it to the phone from which you want to send the app.
- Selecting the receiver device name will show the pop-up for permission on the receiver device. App transfer will start after allowing.
- Once the transfer is complete, you will get the option to install.
With a clean and simple UI, this method allows you to transfer files very quickly, officially, and safely. So you can officially transfer files in this way instead of other third-party apps.
Google is also trying to partner with various manufacturing companies to provide the Nearby Share app built-in to certain PCs in the future.
Among these, the name of the HP company is heard. Maybe HP’s new Dragonfly Pro model offers built-in apps. However, it is expected that Google will be able to make more partnerships soon.
FAQ
We use smartphone, sometimes we have files, photos etc in it. We need to transfer these file to pc. Data cable is the main medium to transfer files to pc. But nearby share can transfer the files very smoothly.
