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Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10

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Re: Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10

#411

Post by Nextgrid »

tencentshill wrote: post #152
rescbr wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember reading somewhere Apple had/has to make AirDrop interoperable due to EU's DMA.

So is Airdrop now less secure or private? I don't trust any standard Google had their hands in.

On every Apple interoperability thread this argument comes up and at this point I'm convinced it's part of some coordinated effort; surely no one can be that clueless to actually believe this, especially on a technical forum?

AirDrop is a peer-to-peer protocol, both the recipient and initiator need to explicitly take action, and even in Apple's implementation provides no authentication (recipient device is chosen by name, which anyone can change in their settings app). There is no way the existence of this Android client would reduce Airdrop security on iOS.

Do you also believe that TLS between an Apple device and a Windows device not secure either, since the Windows device uses a different, non-Apple-sanctioned TLS implementation, and the mere existence of which would somehow weaken Apple's TLS stack?

Re: Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10

#412

Post by walletdrainer »

arghwhat wrote: post #380
bitpush wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could it be that this process needs to be running in a secure enclave

No, not at all. Someone even implemented AirDrop in Python before[1]. In fact, nothing ever needs such special hardware. It's a decision of the implementer if they'd like to get fancy and rely on such hardware in their implementation to change its security profile, but the iPhone at the other end or any Apple infrastructure would be none the wiser - they just see that they're getting appropriately signed or encrypted…

Relies on OWL which does have specific hardware requirements

Re: Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10

#414

Post by Nextgrid »

trollbridge wrote: post #130
somanyphotons wrote: post #26

Am I right to assume that they simply implemented AirDrop without discussing with Apple?

And if Google does this as well as the RCS rollout, I can look forward to attempts to use AirDrop to send me viruses and other spammy junk.

If it was profitable to spam bad things using AirDrop, bad guys would just buy iPhones and use them to spam. No alternative implementations necessary.

Re: Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10

#415

Post by pjc50 »

ricardobeat wrote: post #256
felipeerias wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was experimenting with this technology almost a decade ago as part of my work as interaction designer: https://darker.ink/writings/Mobile-design-with-device-to-dev... It has a lot of potential but unfortunately it has been kept back until now by lack of support and interoperability.

Waayy back in 2009 we had Bump [1], which allowed transfer between devices and later web apps as well – by banging your phone against the spacebar. It worked 98% of the time and was faster than AirDrop is today, even though we only had 3G. Google acquired it and immediately killed it. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bump_(application)

I do wonder how many great little user-friendly bits of software got destroyed in aquishutdowns. Incredible way to deploy capital to delete software, but that's the big internet world for you.

Re: Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10

#416

Post by sd9 »

kleiba wrote: post #363

It's amazing how seemingly trivial things turn out to be really hard to be in practice. Like: - sharing files between two phones - printing a page on that printer over there - getting the projector to display my screen (correctly, or at all) - getting my wife not to click on a link in a random email

I don’t understand why printing is still so difficult in 2025

Re: Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10

#417

Post by madeofpalk »

pdpi wrote: post #387
madeofpalk wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we have proof this actually happened, or theorising based on EU requirements?

You can read the actual ruling at https://ec.europa.eu/competition/digital_markets_act/cases/2... This is the "smoking gun" section: 5.4.8. Implementation timing (245) Apple should provide effective interoperability with the P2P Wi-Fi connection feature by implementing the measures for Wi-Fi Aware 4.0 in the next major iOS release, i.e. iOS 19, at the latest, and for Wi-Fi Aware 5.0 in the next iOS release at the lat…

But does Apple use/allow Airdrop over Wi-Fi Aware? It's not clear to me that's something they shipped.

Re: Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10

#418

Post by latexr »

saagarjha wrote: post #404
latexr wrote: post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I largely agree with you but want to highlight a few points. > Apple doesn't have a single, consistent opinion when it comes to openness and EU regulation. But it does have a greedy leader who can and does override everyone else. https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/24/apple-exec-phil-schiller-t... > Apple is 165 000 people. That's a lot of people. A lot more people than comment regularly on HN How do you know the HN numbe…

It’s a few million page views on the front page and a small fraction commenting.

Again, what’s the source of the data? Anyone can throw around vague numbers. “A few million” and “a small fraction” provide no useful information for the context.

Re: Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10

#419

Post by joshuaissac »

OptionOfT wrote: post #5

The fact that I get excited about this is actually a good representation much vendor lock there is. We used to be able to send files over Bluetooth before the iPhone came out.

Until reading this thread, I had no idea that iPhones did not support Bluetooth for file transfer. I had expected comments like "we can do this with an entry-level phone via Bluetooth already".

On the other hand, with the ubiquity of always-on Internet access and cheap data plans, in most situations where Bluetooth would have been used, I now see WhatsApp being used instead.

Re: Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10

#420

Post by coderedart »

itsCarton wrote: post #376
profsummergig wrote: post #370

Why is it still so dodgy to share my clipboard between my cheap brand (i.e. non-Pixel) 4-year old Android phone and my Windows 11 PC? It's a failure on both Google's and Microsoft's part.

KDE Connect handles that and a ton more very seamlessly imo. Not sure if the solution has to be first-party to qualify as "non-dodgy" but for a third-party solution it's pretty damned good

Throwing in my support for kde connect. It's just super convenient and it's FOSS + cross platform too. kde should honestly advertise it aggressively. There's nothing like it anywhere else.
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