Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google could bring back the “use mobile data” toggle to Quick Share. This toggle was present on Nearby Share but was removed when the service was renamed to Quick Share.
- Speculatively, Quick Share could also use mobile data more liberally when transferring files, as fine text related to small files is absent.
Android landed its AirDrop competitor in the form of Nearby Share, which was renamed as Quick Share when the feature merged with Samsung’s version of Quick Share for Galaxy phones. This universal version of Quick Share essentially lets you AirDrop from Android devices to Android, Chromebooks, Windows PCs, and back. However, as good as Quick Share is, it lacked a key toggle, which many users appreciated in Nearby Share: a toggle for using mobile data. If you’re missing the ability to control whether Quick Share can use your data connection or not, there’s some good news, as Google could be bringing that toggle back.
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Google Play Services v24.41.32 beta adds back the “use mobile data” option to Quick Share. We managed to activate the toggle for this feature, which you can see below.
The “use mobile data” option was previously present on Nearby Share but absent from Quick Share. This option allowed you to share files with other Android users using your mobile data connection instead of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. It came in handy when you were not on the same Wi-Fi network, and the file size was a bit larger than what Bluetooth could handle quickly. As expected, carrier charges may apply when doing a data transfer, depending on your network plan.
If you recall more about Nearby Share, the fine text on the older “use mobile data” option mentioned that “Data may be used for small files.” This fine text is not present on the new option, which gives us hope that the data connection could be used more liberally and frequently for larger files, too, especially since many people have generous data caps these days. Since it is an option, those with limited data can toggle the setting off.
Nearby Share also let you choose between using data, sticking to Wi-Fi only, or sharing files without internet (presumably through only Bluetooth). We don’t have as much flexibility in Quick Share settings yet, but hopefully, we will regain that soon, too.
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