Unique: Android will soon get its own AirDrop-style tap to share feature

Quick Share may be getting a bigger upgrade than we first thought, matching Apple’s AirDrop. This is not based on just one discovery. It’s something we’ve been tracking in multiple teardowns over the past few months, and all signs point to an Android-wide feature in the works.

Back in September 2025, we saw the first signs of NFC-based file sharing in One UI 8.5. The feature appeared under the experimental Labs section with animations suggesting that you can connect two devices to transfer files. At the time, it seemed like it was just an experiment by Samsung. But then things went quiet.

Now, in the leaked builds of One UI 9, we found a more detailed version of the interface called “Click to share.” Its explanation is simple: Hold the top of your phone close to the device, and the files will be sent.

We also get threads like:

All of this strongly suggests that Samsung is developing a tape-based file transfer system that uses NFC. But that is not the whole story. It looks like Tap to share won’t be exclusive to Samsung and is something Android phones can enjoy everywhere.

In November 2025, we discovered a separate feature within Google Play Services that allows two devices to exchange information by bringing them closer together, much like Apple’s NameDrop.

Internally, this feature referred to something called “Gesture Exchange” and seemed to be limited to sharing contacts. But now, the Quick Share app in One UI 9 also mentions Gesture Exchange, suggesting that it is not only for contacts but can also be used to start transferring files.

In other words, NFC may act as a trigger, while Quick Share handles the actual transfer.

And it’s even deeper…

In Android 17 beta and Canary builds, we’ve been seeing references to a system-level service called “TapToShare.” This is at the level of the Android OS, possibly powered in part by Google Play Services. That means that an element may not be associated with the same model.

When you connect the dots, a clear picture begins to emerge.

It looks like Samsung and Google are building a tape-based partnership in Quick Share. It is possible that both companies are working together on this, as they have done in the past. For you, it means that Quick Share on Android can finally support an AirDrop-like sharing experience that can work across multiple devices and models.

Obviously, we will have to wait and see when this arrives, but since we see details on One UI 9, it would make sense for Google to announce it together with the stable release of Android 17. Who knows, Samsung devices might be the first to get it. We’ll keep an eye on how things progress over the next few months.