How to Share Files From Android to iPhone With Quick Share

Direct Quick Share to AirDrop transfers need hardware support for Apple Wireless Direct Link, the radio protocol AirDrop uses, so this is not something every phone gets with a software update. As of June 2026, the supported list looks like this:

• Google Pixel: the entire Pixel 10 series (first to get it), the Pixel 9 series, and the Pixel 8a.
• Samsung Galaxy: Galaxy S26 series (first Samsung phones with it, from March 2026), followed by the Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy S24 series, Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7, Z Fold 6, and Z Flip 6 as the One UI 8.5 update reaches them. Samsung phones need One UI 8.5 or later.
• Other brands: OnePlus 15, OPPO Find X9 series and Find N6, vivo X300 Ultra, and HONOR Magic V6, all named in Google's May 2026 expansion. Xiaomi has confirmed support is coming in 2026 but has not named specific models yet.

Google has named the OPPO Find X8 series and the HONOR Magic8 Pro as next in line. On the Apple side, any reasonably recent iPhone, iPad, or Mac works. If your phone is not listed, skip ahead to the QR code section, which works on effectively any Android phone.

This is the step people miss, and it is not optional. AirDrop normally runs in Contacts Only mode, which matches devices against Apple ID contact data. An Android phone has no Apple ID, so it can never pass that check. The iPhone must be set to accept from everyone, temporarily:

1. On the iPhone, open Settings > General > AirDrop.
2. Select Everyone for 10 Minutes.

The quicker route: open Control Center, long-press the connectivity block (the tile with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth), tap the AirDrop icon, and choose Everyone for 10 Minutes. Either way, iOS flips the setting back after ten minutes. If a transfer suddenly stops finding the iPhone after working earlier, the window probably expired; just set it again.

Two more iPhone-side conditions: the phone should be unlocked with the screen on while you send, and Personal Hotspot should be off, since an active hotspot blocks AirDrop entirely.

On the Android side you need Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on. The transfer itself is peer to peer and does not use your Wi-Fi network or mobile data, but both radios have to be active for discovery and the high-speed link.

On a Samsung Galaxy, confirm the feature is enabled: go to Settings > Connected devices > Quick Share and check the Share with Apple devices toggle. It ships enabled by default after the One UI 8.5 update, but it is the first thing to verify if an iPhone never appears in your share list.

On a Pixel, there is no separate toggle; AirDrop targets just show up in the Quick Share device list once the feature has reached your phone through a Play services update. You can review your own visibility under Settings > Connected devices > Connection preferences > Quick Share, though visibility only matters for receiving, not sending.

With the iPhone set to Everyone for 10 Minutes and sitting nearby, the sending side feels exactly like a normal Quick Share transfer:

1. Open the photo, video, or document on your Android phone.
2. Tap Share, then tap Quick Share.
3. Wait a few seconds. The iPhone (or iPad or Mac) appears in the list of nearby devices, listed by its device name.
4. Tap it. The iPhone shows a standard AirDrop notification asking the person to accept.
5. Once they tap Accept, the transfer runs. Photos and videos land in the iPhone's Photos app; other files go to the Files app.

You can select multiple photos or a batch of documents in one go, and speeds are in the same range as a normal AirDrop transfer, so a multi-gigabyte video is realistic. Google states the connection is direct, nothing is routed through a server, and the transfer is not logged. If the iPhone does not show up, hold the phones within about 30 cm of each other, the distance Google's own support docs recommend for stubborn cases.

The pipe runs both ways: an iPhone user can AirDrop to your Android phone, but now the visibility requirement lands on you. Cross-platform discovery only works in everyone mode, on both platforms, in both directions.

1. On your Android phone, open Quick Share (from Quick Settings or via Settings > Connected devices) and set your visibility to Everyone, which is a temporary mode that reverts on its own after a short window. Keeping the Quick Share receive screen open works too.
2. On the iPhone, the sender selects content, taps the share icon, taps AirDrop, and your Android phone appears alongside Apple devices.
3. Accept the incoming transfer on your phone. Files are saved to your Downloads folder by default; images also show up in your gallery app.

If someone is handing over content from their old iPhone in person, this complements a full migration, covered separately in how to switch from iPhone to Android.

Google also rolled out a second method in 2026 that works on Android phones without the AirDrop-compatible hardware, and it needs nothing installed on the iPhone:

1. Select your files and tap Share > Quick Share.
2. Tap the QR code option instead of picking a device.
3. The iPhone user scans the code with the built-in Camera app and taps the link.
4. The files upload from your phone and download on theirs through the browser, no app or Google account required on their end.

Understand the trade-offs. This route goes through Google's cloud, so both phones need a working internet connection, and speed depends on that connection rather than on proximity. Google says the transfer is end-to-end encrypted, the download link stays valid for 24 hours, and this route is capped at 10 GB and 1,000 files per 24 hours. It is fine for documents and a handful of photos; for a 4 GB video on hotel Wi-Fi it will be painful, and with no connectivity at all it simply will not work, whereas the direct method would.

Nearly every failure comes down to one of these, roughly in order of likelihood:

• The 10-minute window expired. Re-set the iPhone to Everyone for 10 Minutes and try again immediately. Same for your own visibility when receiving.
• AirDrop is on Contacts Only. This is the default and it will never show an Android sender, no matter how long you wait.
• Bluetooth or Wi-Fi is off on either device. Both radios must be on; the phones do not need to be on the same Wi-Fi network.
• Too far apart. Bring the devices within 30 cm for discovery, then separate once the transfer is running.
• Samsung toggle disabled. Check Settings > Connected devices > Quick Share > Share with Apple devices.
• iPhone locked or hotspot on. Wake and unlock the iPhone, and turn off Personal Hotspot in Settings.
• Stale radio state. The classic fix genuinely works here: toggle Airplane mode on and off on both devices, and if that fails, restart both phones.

One known Pixel 10 bug: after the AirDrop-compatible update, some users found that merely opening the Quick Share menu dropped their Wi-Fi connection. If you hit it, finish the transfer and reconnect to Wi-Fi afterward, and keep Google Play services and the Quick Share module updated so you pick up the fix once it ships.

If both phones qualify, the direct route wins every time: no internet needed, no upload wait, no expiring link, and no cloud in the middle. Reserve the QR method for unsupported phones, or for cases where the recipient is not physically next to you but you are already on a call with them, since the link works at any distance once generated.

Also think about whether ad hoc sharing is even the right tool. If you are regularly moving your whole camera roll around, a synced library beats manual transfers; see how to back up photos on Android for that setup. And for big one-time moves to a computer rather than a phone, cable and network options are faster and more reliable, covered in how to transfer files between Android and PC.

Setting AirDrop or Quick Share to everyone mode makes your device discoverable to any stranger in radio range, which is exactly why both platforms enforce the 10-minute auto-revert; unsolicited AirDrop spam in public places is a real thing. You still have to explicitly accept every incoming transfer, and the direct connection carries no account data between the devices. The other side sees only your device name, so if your phone is named after your full name, rename it under Settings > About phone > Device name before turning visibility on in public.