One of my colleagues recently told me about the Quick Share option on his Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. He bragged about how easily he shared photos and videos with his friends using Samsung’s Quick Share feature, just like Apple users would do using AirDrop. This intrigued me and made me interested in Quick Share. I wanted to compare AirDrop and Quick Share just like I did for Nearby Share vs. AirDrop.
Over a Google search, I learned about the basic operations of Quick Share and found them quite similar, if not the same, to AirDrop. So, I asked my colleague if I could try out the Quick Share feature on his smartphone, and he was quite generous in offering me the opportunity to write this blog.
Spending some quality time using Quick Share to transfer files, I have made this detailed comparison between Samsung Quick Share vs. Apple AirDrop. Comparing them on various aspects and exploring the new features, I have found out which comes top when sharing files wirelessly. Read this article completely to know the top-rated comparison between Samsung’s Quick Share and Apple’s AirDrop.
AirDrop Vs. Quick Share – Compatible Devices
Quick Share
- Quick Share is available on the latest Galaxy smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Just like AirDrop, Quick Share is also a built-in feature of Samsung.
- Apart from the latest Galaxy devices, Quick Share is available on all Galaxy devices running on Android 10 or later.
- You can also install the app on your Windows PC from Microsoft Store to transfer files from or to Galaxy devices.
- Quick Share allows you to send files to non-compatible devices via Samsung Cloud.
AirDrop
- AirDrop is available on Apple iPhones, iPads, iPod touch, and Macs. AirDrop is a built-in feature on these Apple devices.
- This feature is supported on all iPhones, iPod touch, & iPads with iOS 7 or above and MacBooks with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion or above.
- You won’t find the AirDrop feature on iPhone (Gen 1), iPhone 3G, 3GS, 2012 Mac Pro, and other iPhones or iPads that didn’t get iOS 7 software updates.
- AirDrop feature is available on all recently released iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
Verdict: Samsung Quick Share is better compatible with sharing files between various devices compared to Apple AirDrop.
AirDrop Vs. Quick Share – Supported File Formats
Quick Share
- Quick Share allows you to share different formats of files, music, videos, documents, and more from the local storage of your devices.
- You can also send some special media files of particular apps. You can send your Spotify playlist or send a QR scanner code, WhatsApp group links, and more.
AirDrop
- AirDrop allows you to share files in many different formats, including photos, videos, music, notes, PDFs, and more.
- You can share apps between your Apple devices using AirDrop.
- You can also share some of the special media files of certain apps. For example, you can AirDrop your Spotify Playlist, Instagram, Snapchat filters, QR codes, and links from various social media apps.
- Apart from apps and media, you can also AirDrop passwords of streaming services to access content on smart devices with your family and friends.
Verdict: Apple AirDrop has a slight edge over Quick Share since it allows you to share files in different formats.
Connectivity Range of AirDrop Vs. Quick Share
Quick Share
- Quick Share doesn’t have a wide range of operations like AirDrop. It works best only when you are keeping the smartphones so close to each other.
AirDrop
- Both the receiver and sender Apple device must be in a range of less than 30 feet or 9 meters.
Verdict: AirDrop covers more distance and transfers files reliably, even if there is a significant gap between the sender and receiver devices.
Setup Process of AirDrop Vs. Quick Share
Quick Share
- Quick Share doesn’t require any separate setup process on supported Galaxy devices.
- For Windows PC, you must install the app from Microsoft Store.
- To send files using Quick Share, you must sign in to your Samsung account.
- You can change Quick Share’s username from Quick Share’s Settings.
AirDrop
- AirDrop also doesn’t require any separate setup process.
- However, you must be signed in to your Apple ID on the Apple devices to use the AirDrop feature.
- If you wish to change the name of your AirDrop, you can do it in your device settings.
Verdict: Both AirDrop & Quick Share have fairly similar setup processes and, so it is a tie.
Working Style of AirDrop and Quick Share
Quick Share
- Quick Share relies on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Once you turn on any one of those, turn on the Quick Share function on the notification panel of your device to share the files.
- For visibility, select the Contacts only or Anyone nearby option. If the receiver device is not visible, go to Settings → Connections and turn on Phone Visibility.
- Choose the file you want to transfer and click on the Share icon. Now, select the Quick Share option and select the receiver.
- On the receiving Galaxy devices, click Accept to receive the files.
- On non-Galaxy devices, you can download the files from the Samsung Cloud.
- During the Quick Share process, the Samsung devices must be unlocked.
AirDrop
- To share files using AirDrop, you must enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on your Apple devices. After that, turn on the AirDrop feature on the Control Centre or from the Finder tool on Mac.
- You can change the AirDrop settings visibility to Contact Only or Everyone for 10 minutes.
- To share a file, click the Share icon and select the AirDrop option. Select the receiver Apple device to send the file.
- The receiving Apple device must Accept the sent file to complete the transfer.
- AirDrop relies on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for connection. So, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth must be enabled on both Apple devices to AirDrop files.
- Ensure both the sending and receiving Apple devices are unlocked during the process.
Verdict: Working style is quite similar in AirDrop and Quick Share. However, Quick Share can transfer files to devices that are not Quick Share compatible.
Transferred Files Quality of AirDrop and Quick Share
Quick Share
- Quick Share doesn’t compromise on picture quality. You get the exact details as the original picture on the sender’s device without reducing any quality.
AirDrop
- The same is true for images and videos shared via AirDrop. There is no loss in the picture quality. You will also get the metadata of the pictures and videos you transfer.
Verdict: Both Quick Share and AirDrop doesn’t compromise on the quality of images or videos while transferring them to other devices.
Data Privacy of AirDrop Vs. Quick Share
Quick Share
- Quick Share is a safe option to send files wirelessly. If you are sending files with personal information, you can use the Private Share function so that you have control over the files you are sharing.
- Since Quick Share uses Samsung Cloud to share files to non-Galaxy devices, the data breach is plausible.
AirDrop
- AirDrop is one of the most secure ways to share files between Apple devices. It is very safe and doesn’t breach your privacy.
- AirDrop doesn’t track any data or location details while sharing files.
Verdict: AirDrop remains to be the safest way to transfer files between Apple devices.
User Interface of AirDrop Vs. Quick Share
Quick Share
- Unlike AirDrop, Quick Share does have a dedicated interface where you can select the receivers and sending method. You can also change the Quick Share settings in this interface.
AirDrop
- AirDrop doesn’t have a dedicated interface. It is a built-in feature on Apple devices. You can only see how many files you receive in the prompt.
- Once you select the Share icon on a file and select the AirDrop file, you will get a page showing the available receiver. This is the only AirDrop-related interface.
Verdict: The dedicated interface of the Quick Share makes it easy to send and change the settings of the feature.
Transfer Speed & Limitations of AirDrop Vs. Quick Share
Quick Share
- Quick Share only allows sending files up to the size of 1 GB at a time. Also, it allows you to send only files up to 5 GB a day. Private Share files are limited to 200 MB.
- Quick Share transfers files at the speed of 200 Mbps, which is comparatively slower than the AirDrop.
- The device limit is up to 8 devices at a time.
AirDrop
- AirDrop doesn’t have any size limits. You can send large media files between Apple devices within a few seconds.
- AirDrop remains one of the fastest wireless file-sharing features, transferring up to 1 Gbps.
- Also, you can send files from one Apple device to multiple devices simultaneously.
Verdict: AirDrop’s unlimited data size limit and device with high-speed data transfer rate have a clear victory here.
Unique Features of Quick Share and AirDrop
Quick Share
- Quick Share allows you to share files with devices incompatible with Quick Share using a QR code or a URL. You can scan the QR code or use the URL to download the files from the Samsung Cloud.
- You can send files to any of your contacts using Quick Share. If the contact uses a Quick Share-compatible device, they can click Accept to receive the files. If they use other devices, they will get URLs via SMS, which they can use to download the files from Samsung Cloud.
- Private Share allows you to send files with personal data or financial information. Private Share allows you to control the recipient’s access to the file and the file’s expiration time.
AirDrop
- The iOS 17 brought some of the best features of AirDrop, known as Proximity Sharing, Transfer Over the Internet, and NameDrop.
- Proximity Sharing allows you to share files between iPhones by bringing them close together.
- Transfer Over the Internet allows Apple devices to AirDrop files even if the devices leave the AirDrop range using cellular data.
- NameDrop lets you share your contact with fellow iPhone users by bringing the devices together.
Verdict: Both AirDrop and Quick Share offer quite unique features that are unheard of in other wireless file-sharing apps.
Final Verdict
Quick Share lets you share files to devices incompatible with Quick Share. Also, it lets you share files with the people in your contacts via Samsung Cloud. Both these features are missing on the Apple AirDrop. However, if you are looking for the fastest way to transfer large files to an unlimited number of devices, Apple AirDrop will suit you best.
Since both Quick Share and AirDrop have their advantages and strengths, you can use any of these based on your needs.
FAQ
No. As of now, the AirDrop can be used only to transfer files between Apple devices. You cannot AirDrop to Android smartphones or tablets.
Yes. The concept and working terminology of Quick Share are quite similar to AirDrop. This makes it the Samsung version of AirDrop.
Yes. You can share files from Samsung smartphones to iPhones using Quick Share.