The Easiest Ways to Share Anything Between Android and iOS

Whisper it quietly, but certain bricks in Apple’s walled garden might be getting taken away.

Thanks to some recent upgrades added to Android by Google, it's now easier than ever to share files between an iPhone and an Android phone, without installing any new apps (though that's still an option too).

So if you need to send a photo, contact card, web link, or anything else, these are the options you have available. As is often the case with Android, they may vary depending on the make and model of your handset, though you should find at least one of these methods works for you.

Share Files via AirDrop

This is the big one: Google recently figured out a way to add support for AirDrop—Apple's previously closed-off, device-to-device sharing protocol—to newer Pixel phones. It doesn't appear that Apple was involved in the process, but the company hasn't gotten in Google's way since, and the functionality has been rolled out to other phones (including the recent Pixel and Galaxy handsets).

Some prep work may be required. On Samsung phones, you need to open Settings, then choose Connected devices > Quick Share and enable Share with Apple devices—though there's no such toggle switch on Pixel phones—it'll just work right away. It needs enabling on iOS too: From Settings, tap General > AirDrop, and Everyone for 10 Minutes.

With that done, whenever you tap the share button anywhere in any Android app, you can choose Quick Share from the resulting pop-up panel to communicate with a nearby iPhone. The iPhone should show up in the available devices, so select it to start the transfer—which will still need to be accepted on the iPhone.

It will work the other way too, starting from AirDrop on an iPhone, as long as the Android device is set up to receive from any other device. From Settings, tap either Connection preferences (Google Pixel phones) or Connected devices (Samsung Galaxy phones), then select Quick Share > Who can share with you.

Share Files via QR code

Google hasn't stopped with AirDrop on Android. It has also recently pushed out a QR-code-based option for sharing from Android to iOS. It's a bit more clunky than AirDrop, but it'll work no matter what kind of Android phone you've got.

Again, you need to go through Quick Share, which pops up as an option whenever you try to share something in Android—no matter what the app or item you want to share. You won't see an iPhone appear if you don't have the AirDrop functionality, but you should see a Use QR code option on the right, under Share with iPhone and other devices, which after a few moments shrinks down to just a QR code symbol.