Google's New AirDrop Trick Works With Macs And iPads Too

Google made several significant announcements this week, including Gemini 3 Pro and the new Generative UI feature, the rollout of Gemini AI to Android Auto, and the launch of Nano Banana Pro, the company's newest image generator based on the same Gemini 3 Pro tech. However, Google also made a surprise announcement on Thursday that had nothing to do with generative AI products but still drew plenty of attention: Google made Quick Share work with the iPhone's AirDrop, a feature many Android and iPhone users may have dreamed of. Impressively, Google did it without Apple's help and apparently without compromising security. Quick Share to AirDrop sharing allows peer-to-peer connectivity between Pixel 10 devices and iPhones for sharing files.

Apple is backed into a corner here. On one hand, they want to kill this ASAP. On the other, they don't want another RCS-level PR and regulator war on their hands. Extremely curious what happens next. I'd lean toward Apple just blocking it and not caring. https://t.co/yX3Lwhg1KN

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) November 21, 2025

Apple may not like Google's ability to engineer such cross-platform functionality, as Mark Gurman pointed out on X, and it may attempt to stop it in the future. But Google's version of AirDrop works on Pixel 10 phones for now, and it may expand to more Android devices. Pixel 10 users can send files to iPhone users and receive files from them too via the Quick Share-AirDrop connection. Interestingly, the feature also supports other Apple products that can handle file transfers via the AirDrop protocol, including Macs and iPads.

AirDrop is a key feature for making Apple's ecosystem of products work together. It's not just about using AirDrop for sharing photos and videos with other iPhone users as soon as you take them. AirDrop also improves productivity by letting you move files between your iPhone, Mac, and iPad. AirDrop eliminates the need for intermediaries, like cloud services, chat apps, or external storage, to share your data across your devices. Pixel 10 users who own Macs and iPads can also use the new Quick Share-AirDrop feature to move files between their Pixel 10 and their Mac or iPad.

Google's support document mentions iPads and Macs explicitly in addition to iPhones. It's not just speculation. The document also describes the steps necessary to start sharing content with an iPhone, iPad, or Mac:

• Ask the iPhone, iPad, or macOS user to open their AirDrop settings and select Everyone for 10 minutes.
• On your Pixel, open the content you want to share and tap Share > Quick Share.
• Select the iPhone, iPad, or macOS device from the list of nearby devices.
• Wait for the recipient to tap or click Accept on the AirDrop notification on their iPhone, iPad, or macOS device.

The same document explains the steps for receiving content on an Apple device from Pixel 10 users:

• On your iPhone, iPad, or macOS device, change your AirDrop visibility to Everyone for 10 minutes.
• Tap or click Accept on the AirDrop notification.