Apple has its AirDrop file sharing around for quite some time, and it is extremely popular and convenient to use. We have known that Google has also been working on something similar and this is the time it might finally be around. Nearby Share is an alternative to Apple’s AirDrop file-sharing feature. It started rolling out for selective users of the Google Play Services Beta program last month. Since then, the feature has also been rolled down to Chromebooks, allowing seamless file sharing.
What’s exciting is the rollout of this feature for Chrome browser on Windows PCs. The feature is still experimental, but it’s a good sign of moving forward! This was first spotted by people at TechDows, this feature is showing up on Google Chrome on the Chrome Canary and Dev channels. Chrome includes a “Nearby Sharing” flag, which can be turned on to use this feature. The requirements for using this feature are as follows:
- Windows PC with Bluetooth functionality
- Supported smartphone or Chromebook
- Google Chrome Dev or Canary build
- Both devices need to be close to each other and unlocked
How to Enable Nearby Share on Windows PC
- If you haven’t already, download the Chrome Dev or the Chrome Canary build on your Windows PC.
- Go to chrome flags by typing “chrome://flags” in your URL bar and search for “Nearby Share” in the search box above.
- Enable the Nearby Sharing flag from the dropdown menu shown below.
- Relaunch Chrome and type in “chrome://nearby” and press enter.
As of now, the feature didn’t work for us, and it seems like it is still in its development phase. Meanwhile, the placeholders as well as Next, Cancel buttons don’t seem to function as well. It is quite interesting to see this happening on the Android/Windows side of things and we hope that this feature will be soon released in the Public build of Chrome too.
We will keep you posted as to when it comes out. We would also be testing out its speed and reliability, as this feature could be a great alternative to Xender or SnapDrop.
