Android and iOS apps will be able to bypass the share sheet next year

Quick Share has come a long way over the past year. It started working with Apple's AirDrop on Pixels, then that support began spreading to other Android phones, and in August Google launched Tap to Share. Now, the company is going to let developers build Quick Share directly into their own apps - and not just on Android.

At its Android Dev Summit, Google announced a Quick Share SDK that will be released in the first half of 2027, along with a Quick Share iOS SDK for iPhone apps. Apps that adopt it will let you send files to nearby devices without going through the system share sheet and the full-screen Quick Share interface. Instead, a bottom sheet pops up right inside the app, with previews of the files you're sending.

Transfers happen over local networks and are end-to-end encrypted between the two devices. The SDK creates a hotspot automatically when needed and uses Wi-Fi Direct on devices that support it, while photos and videos keep their full resolution, since they don't have to be compressed. And because nothing goes through the cloud, sharing works offline too, even on a plane or deep in a subway tunnel, without eating into your data plan.

For developers, Google says it takes about 20 lines of code to add this, with no server infrastructure to maintain. Apps can also flag content as sensitive to have it masked in the preview. With Tap to Share, the app on the receiving device doesn't even need to be open - it launches automatically as soon as the transfer completes.

According to Google, Quick Share is currently available on more than 3 billion devices across Android, ChromeOS, and Windows. Of course, whether you'll actually see the new functionality in your favorite apps depends on their developers deciding to adopt the SDK.

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