Samsung has a new weapon to take on Apple, AirDrop arrives on Galaxy S26

Sharing high-resolution photos or large documents between devices with different operating systems has always been a frustrating process, limited by annoying compressions or unnecessarily complex steps.

Google has been working for some time to bridge the long-standing divide that has long separated Android users from those iOS in favor of greater interoperability.

Samsung has finally announced a key update for Quick Share, introducing full compatibility with Apple’s AirDrop standard.

This is an essential move, designed to make life easier for consumers and to enable their smartphones to communicate seamlessly with the competition, facilitating the jump from one ecosystem to another.

Samsung Galaxy S26, AirDrop support officially arrives

The debut of this highly anticipated feature begins today. In an initial phase, the updated software will be distributed exclusively in South Korea, then expand its reach during the week to the United States market. In short order, the release will also cover Europe, Latin America, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

Currently, the implementation concerns only the new devices of the Galaxy S26 family, including the base version, the Galaxy S26+ and the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

The company has nonetheless reassured its customer base that support will be extended to other Galaxy products in the future, although no exact roadmap for updating previous models has yet been made public.

Privacy management and differences with Google

A very relevant technical aspect concerns the exact activation mode of the service. Unlike what happened on Google Pixel 10 and Pixel 9, which had integrated this option at the end of 2025 making it enabled by default, on Samsung’s devices a manual intervention will be required.

People will need to go to the system’s general settings, access the section dedicated to connected devices, select Quick Share and specifically enable the switch for sharing with Apple products.

In order for the wireless transfer to succeed, both the sender and the recipient must ensure they have set visibility to accept files from anyone, thus ensuring strict control over incoming connections.

A more open tech ecosystem

The opening of Quick Share to Cupertino’s standard stems from Google’s initial efforts, which made possible this direct communication between platforms without any official support from Apple. The end result is a market decidedly more open and practical for anyone using multiple devices at the same time.

The ability to exchange multimedia content quickly represents a notable advantage, especially for professionals and content creators.

Other manufacturers are also moving in the same direction, with brands like OPPO ready to integrate similar solutions by the end of the current month.