Google is rumored to be working on its own AirDrop type of feature for future versions of Android that should theoretically speed up sharing content from one phone to another. If you've never used AirDrop, we'll explain.
AirDrop vs Fast Share
If you haven't used an Apple device, AirDrop is a way to quickly sling content to another Apple device. If you're looking at a photo, you can quickly AirDrop it to your friend's phone. That's great for memes or social pictures, but it also works for productivity, since you can send links or documents to your other devices, too. Need a web page over on your iPad? AirDrop it over.
If that sounds kind of like Android Beam or Bluetooth sharing, it definitely is. What makes it unique and useful is that's very fast, and there's no need to pair anything up or physically touch devices.
It was recently rumored that Google had a similar feature in development, called Fast Share. We haven't heard much about it yet, but apparently it recently picked up a changed UI and new icon in some early builds. It shows some similar AirDrop features, too, like controlling if only your contacts can send you stuff, or if anyone can send you content. You can presumably turn this off completely, too.
We still don't know when this feature will actually turn into something, but with how far along it's coming, it seems like it might make a nice feature to showcase on Android 11. Although let's hope that it does get backported at some point, because a sharing feature that most phones don't have software to run seems kind of useless.
source: Mishaal Rahman (Twitter)
