Samsung has started rolling out support for Apple's AirDrop directly into its Quick Share feature. The update will first be available on the new Galaxy S26 devices in Korea before expanding to other regions, including Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Latin America, North America, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan.
When it lands on your Galaxy device, there will be a dedicated toggle labeled "Share with Apple devices" buried inside your Quick Share settings. Samsung does note that enabling the feature may temporarily disconnect your phone from its current Wi-Fi network.
The "Share with Apple devices" feature on Galaxy comes just a couple of months after Google shocked the world with an update for its Pixel 10 devices that introduced the exact same capability, as long as the receiving iPhone must be set to "Everyone for 10 Minutes."
Google managed to bring support for AirDrop to the Pixel without any official collaboration with Apple by reverse-engineering the closed protocol. The system uses Bluetooth Low Energy to broadcast its presence and scan for available devices in the area. Once a handshake is established, the connection cleverly switches to a high-speed peer-to-peer Wi-Fi link for the actual data transfer.
We do not know exactly how Apple will respond to this bold technical workaround from Google and now Samsung. Fans often tout AirDrop as one of the strongest reasons people stay inside the iOS ecosystem.
But regulators often see the technology as a prime example of Apple's anti-competitive "walled garden" strategy, arguing Apple deliberately closes it off to degrade the experience of using non-Apple devices. In 2024, the European Commission designated Apple a "gatekeeper" under its Digital Markets Act and, several months later, gave the company a strict deadline of the end of 2026 to open up nine specific iOS connectivity features, including AirDrop and AirPlay, to third-party developers and device manufacturers.
Perhaps the reason we're seeing this "AirDrop" arrive on Galaxy and Pixel devices right now is that both companies feel emboldened by the regulatory pressure the Cupertino tech giant is currently facing.