Something to look forward to: After hearing plenty about the upcoming Galaxy S20's hardware, a new leak has revealed an enticing software feature. It seems Samsung is set to introduce a file-sharing service with the phone that will rival Apple's AirDrop.
XDA Developers was able to obtain the APK for the service, which is called Quick Share, from a source who has access to a Galaxy S20+ 5G, suggesting it will launch as part of the S20 lineup. Like AirDrop, it allows users to "share instantly with people nearby" who have the feature turned on, making it a quick and simple way to transfer files between two Galaxy phones.
There will be two options for sharing: 'Contacts-only,' which allows the sharing of files only with other Samsung Social users in your contacts, and 'Everyone,' which allows you to send or receive files from anyone nearby with a supported device.
Quick Share also lets you send data to Smart Things devices; this involves temporarily uploading files to Samsung Cloud, which are then streamed to Smart Things products and downloaded locally. The limitations are that files can be up to 1GB, and a total of 2GB can be sent per day.
It's unclear if the service will make its way to older Samsung devices, but it likely will as restricting it to the S20 lineup would limit its usefulness. Expect Quick Share to hit other handsets via a future software update.
XDA Developers notes that other companies are developing or already have similar file-sharing services: Google is working on Nearby Sharing, which is part of Google Play Services, and Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo also have a cross-platform sharing feature.
We'll learn more about Quick Share at the Galaxy S20 Unpacked event, which takes place on February 11.