Quick Share Vs. Nearby Share: What's The Difference?
Quick Share is a file-sharing feature that's available on Samsung Galaxy devices. Nearby Share is also available on Samsung Galaxy phones.
Samsung announced Quick Share in 2020 as its own version of Apple's AirDrop. The file-sharing feature, which made its debut on the Galaxy S20 series, allows users to share files with nearby contacts with a compatible Samsung Galaxy device. In the same year, Google announced Nearby Share, also an AirDrop-like feature that is available on mostly all Android devices including Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets.
In addition to the built-in file-sharing features that are now available on smartphones, there are several third-party apps that allow users to easily send files to other users. However, some of these apps don't encrypt the data that's being sent from one device to another. Some apps may also contain malware that could infect the device it is installed on.
Samsung's Quick Share is limited to the company's Galaxy devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers. Although it launched first on the Galaxy S20 series, Samsung has since made it available on most of its smartphones and tablets running Android 10 and later. Unfortunately, devices running Google's Android Go Edition do not support the feature. Quick Share is also available on Samsung laptops running Windows such as the Galaxy Book S, all 2021 Galaxy Book models, Galaxy Book Ion series, Galaxy Book Flex series, Samsung Notebook Odyssey (2020), and Samsung Notebook Plus models. Google announced Nearby Share first with the Pixel 5 series in August 2020, and it has since rolled out to devices from many other brands.
How Quick Share And Nearby Share Are Different
The major difference between Quick Share and Nearby Share is the supported devices. Samsung has designed Quick Share to only work on its own devices, similar to how AirDrop only works on Apple devices (iPhones, iPads, and Macs). Samsung also limits the feature to its Android devices running Android 10 or later. With Nearby Share, the feature is available on all Android phones and tablets (with Google Mobile Services), including Samsung devices, that are running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or later. Google has also added support for Nearby Share to Chrome OS which means Chromebooks can send and receive files to other devices.
In terms of how they work, Quick Share and Nearby Share are very similar. They both use Bluetooth to find nearby devices and allow users to choose between three device visibility options — Hidden, Contacts, and Everyone/Anyone. With Quick Share or Nearby Share, users can share photos, videos, files, and links with other devices. However, one advantage of Samsung's Quick Share is that it allows users to share a file or multiple files with up to five contacts simultaneously, while Nearby Share is limited to just one contact at a time.
NEXT: Samsung's Magic Eraser Rival Now Available On More Galaxy Phones
