Google has reportedly started rolling out its long-awaited much-needed Nearby Sharing feature through the latest beta version of Google Play Services. The feature will be available on devices running Android 6 (Marshmallow) and later.
“We’re currently conducting a beta test of a new Nearby Share feature that we plan to share more information on in the future. Our goal is to launch the feature with support for Android 6+ devices as well as other platforms,” a Google representative told Android Police.
For the uninitiated, Nearby Sharr lets users share files with devices in the supported proximity without much hassle. In the future, Nearby Sharing is expected to offer support for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS.
When enabled, a “Nearby Share” icon will appear in the share sheet. In addition, you may also see a neat “Nearby” button in the share sheet, as spotted earlier this month in a YouTube video part of Google’s “11 Weeks of Android”.
Interestingly, Google’s Nearby Share offers three visibility settings – All Contacts, Some Contacts, and Hidden. You get to choose the visibility setting you prefer. Below is how the sharing process would look like, courtesy of Android Police.
Android Police notes that Nearby Sharing requires a server-side component to work. Hence, you may not necessarily see Nearby Sharing on your compatible Android phone running on the latest Google Play Services beta. When I tried, the feature didn’t show up on my OnePlus 7T.
Now that the feature is ready for public beta testing, we could expect the company to announce it with the Pixel 4a or hopefully later this year alongside the Pixel 5.
