Samsung now officially supports AirDrop, but only for these devices

In November, Google made a surprising announcement: Quick Share suddenly became compatible with Apple airdrop. At the time, compatibility was limited to the Pixel 10, but no matter: Google made history by changing sharing features from platform-specific to cross-platform.

While AirDrop and Quick Share have long been the most convenient ways to share large files between devices, it only works if you and your friend are on the same OS. That limitation introduces some uncomfortable friction, but, as support expands cross-platform, that friction is becoming less. Google first announced plans for greater AirDrop compatibility in Quick Share last month, when Eric Kay, vice president of Android engineering, said, “[i]n 2026, we’re going to expand (AirDrop support) to a lot more devices.”

While there is no official timeline as to which devices will get support and when, Nothing has said it is “exploring” to add it, while Qualcomm “can’t wait” to add the feature to its Snapdragon chips. However, we now know of one Android device that will support AirDrop very soon: the Samsung Galaxy S26.

AirDrop support comes to Galaxy S26 series

Samsung made the news official on March 22 (technically Monday, March 23 in Korea). At launch, AirDrop support will only work on the Galaxy S26 series, which includes the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26 Plus, and Galaxy S26 Ultra. This is troublesome for users of the Galaxy S25 and earlier, but it’s possible that Samsung will extend support in time. After all, Google introduced AirDrop support for Pixel 9 devices late last month.

If you have a Galaxy S26 device, the feature is live now—if you live in Korea. Samsung says the feature will be rolling out in the US later this week, but at the time of this writing, the update is only available to Galaxy users in Korea. (I’ll update this piece when Samsung releases the update for those of us in the US)

How to Enable AirDrop Support in Quick Share on Galaxy

Credits: Images courtesy of Samsung

If you have an S26, and the update has become available to you, all you need to do is proceed Settings > Software Update (Or system updates), then click “Download and Install,” “Check for system updates,” or “Check for software updates,” depending on your device.

Then, once your phone gets the update, you’ll have to manually enable AirDrop support for Quick Share – it just won’t show up on your phone. To do this, proceed Settings > Connected Devices > Quick Sharethen toggle to new “Share with Apple device” Option.

If you tap the option itself, you’ll find full details of the feature, which you may or may not already know: The recipient needs to set their iPhone’s AirDrop settings to “Everyone,” and you need to open Quick Share on your end when you want to receive a file. Samsung says your phone may temporarily disconnect from WiFi while finding or sharing other iPhones.