- Tap to Share is an Android alternative in development to Apple’s NameDrop
- We’ve heard about it before, but now the interface has been leaked
- Seems far away, so maybe it will launch with Android 17
Android already has its own AirDrop alternative in Quick Share, but it lacks the NameDrop component of AirDrop, which is the feature that allows two iPhones to be brought together to share contact information. Soon, however, a version of NameDrop is coming to Quick Share called Tap to Share.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Tap to Share, but thanks to Android Authority, we now have a better look at the upcoming feature, as the site managed to enable the Tap to Share UI by digging into Google Play Services v26.15.3.
The feature hasn’t launched yet, so it’s possible the interface or approach will change, but you can see that in its current form it requires the top of two phones’ screens to overlap, making it slightly different from Apple’s sharing approach.
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An NFC problem
Android Authority speculates that this accounts for the varied placement of NFC chips on Android phones, with overlap making it more likely that both phones’ NFC chips are within range for the transfer.
Once layered, you keep the phones together until the screen glows, at which point your contact information will be exchanged – although you can apparently also use Tap to Share to transfer photos, videos and other files.
It’s still unclear when Tap to Share will actually launch, but the fact that Android Authority was able to access the interface suggests that it’s well on its way to being finished, so perhaps we’ll see it as part of Android 17 in mid-2026.
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