Google is launching Nearby Share as a beta for Windows, but not on your device. Our country is currently lagging behind. Better and above all standardized synergies between Windows and Android are on the way.

AirDrop allows Apple users to quickly and easily share files, like photos, with other Apple devices, including laptops. “That’s practical,” they thought twelve years after starting at competitor Google. In this respect we can be happy Share nearby or AirDrop for Android and Windows. The solution is integrated in all Android versions from Edition Six, but not in Windows itself.

Not in the EU

Windows users need to download an app. It works on Windows 10 and 11 unless you are running Windows on an ARM device. The app is available as a beta, but not everywhere. Google says the beta application is coming to the US and most countries worldwide except the entire EU (including Belgium and the Netherlands). The only other region included in the list of exemptions is Donbass in Ukraine. In the European Union, it is not unthinkable that strict data protection rules make the rollout more complex. We contacted Google for clarification.

Nearby Share promises to make it easy to quickly share files with a PC from your phone. Both Microsoft and manufacturers of Android cell phones are currently working at full speed on their own solutions for this. Just think of Microsoft’s Phone Link or Motorola’s Ready For Assistant. With Nearby Share there will be a simple solution that works on all Android devices without an additional app on the phone.