Quick Share for Chromebook set to get a Wi-Fi Direct speed boost

Chromebooks offer pretty smooth integration with Android phones for a more connected, productive experience via the Phone Hub. It’s one of the many things that keeps me on an Android phone these days if I’m being honest. And one of the most useful ways that Chromebooks and Android phones can connect at this point is by using a feature called Quick Share. It lets you easily send photos, documents, and other files between your Android phone, Chromebook, and even Windows PCs, and it’s really handy once you get used to using it.

How does Quick Share (formally Nearby Share) work?

Think of Quick Share as the Google version of Apple’s AirDrop. It allows you to send files between nearby devices instantly with just a single click. Under the hood, Quick Share can use either Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to make the transfer as long as the device supports it. Bluetooth helps devices discover each other, but for the fastest file transfers, Wi-Fi is the preferred method of transport via networked connections between devices on the same local Wi-Fi network. Android phones, however, have an extra trick up their sleeves: Wi-Fi Direct.

Understanding Wi-Fi Direct

Wi-Fi Direct allows for communication over Wi-Fi from one device directly to another. It is sort of like creating a mini hotspot directly on your Android phone, eliminating the need for a router. When you share a file with Quick Share on your phone, it can make a temporary connection to send files much faster even when a networked internet connection isn’t available.

Wi-Fi Direct: Coming Soon to Chromebooks

Until now, Wi-Fi Direct hasn’t been supported on Chromebooks. This means Quick Share must rely on a shared internet connection (local area network) for the fastest speeds. Thankfully, this is changing in a future update. Via Android Police, the ChromeOS team is working on adding Wi-Fi Direct support, meaning users should soon be able to utilize faster Wi-Fi direct transfer speeds even when out and about without a shared Wi-Fi network. This will unlock the full potential of Quick Share on Chromebooks, matching the lightning-fast speeds you expect from your Android phone.

When we’ll see this arrive is currently up in the air, but hopefully the feature flag shows up soon. At that point, we can at least begin testing out this new feature to see how much faster things will move via Quick Share once we have this ability. I think it’s part of the Quick Share experience that we need on Chromebooks to fully leverage a feature like this, and I can’t wait to give it a try soon!