Google and Samsung announced at CES last week that Nearby Share and Quick Share will merge, and that new version is already live out of the box on the Galaxy S24 series.
Nearby Share launched a few years ago as what is effectively Android’s version of Apple’s AirDrop, and it’s been a super useful addition. Google also brought Nearby Share to Windows recently.
But all the while, Samsung has had its own version of this idea in “Quick Share,” which actually existed long before Nearby Share. Last week, Google and Samsung announced that Quick Share and Nearby Share would merge under Samsung’s better branding, Quick Share. Google explained that the two services would merge with a new blue icon and a revamped UI that was previewed on Pixels at CES.
We’ve now got our hands on the Galaxy S24 Ultra and, as it turns out, the functionality is live out of the box.
Quick Share on the Galaxy S24 series immediately works with Google’s Nearby Share and is cross-compatible with both legacy Quick Share and the new merged standard. I was able to see my Galaxy S23 Ultra in Quick Share as well as my Pixel 8 Pro which is using Nearby Share, and send files to both. The UI on Samsung’s side hasn’t really changed much, but you can see in the Settings that there are options to “Share with Galaxy devices” using your Samsung account, as well as “Share with non-Galaxy devices” using your Google account.
Notably, this setup is probably just a stopgap. Google previously explained that an update to Quick Share through the Galaxy Store on Samsung devices will remove the old version after the new one merged with Nearby Share goes live. There’s no word on when specifically that will be, but Google previously said that the new Quick Share will start rolling out in February.
Of course, the Galaxy S24 series isn’t actually hitting retail shelves just yet. The three new releases are available for pre-order now, but they won’t formally launch until later this month.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 series is available for pre-order now, starting at $799. Pre-orders come with doubled storage, boosted trade-ins up to $750, and bonus credit up to $150.
You can get an additional $50 off your purchase on Samsung.com using our exclusive links above.
More on Samsung:
- Hands-on: The Galaxy S24 and S24+ are a better buy than the S24 Ultra
- Galaxy S24 Ultra gets titanium, flat display, no 10x telephoto, and higher $1,300 price
- Here are all of Samsung’s new Galaxy AI features [Gallery]
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