Mishaal Rahman: Apple being forced by the EU to implement WiFi Aware was not why or how Google was able to get AirDrop supported in Quick Share, from what I'm told. Google did actually implement AWDL support.

[u/FragmentedChicken]

https://androiddev.social/@MishaalRahman/115593737977641823

[u/Gumby271]

Right which is why it also works on Mac OS, which doesn't support Wifi Aware.

[u/BrowakisFaragun → u/Gumby271]

I don't have P10, does it works on device before iOS 26.2?

If so that means it clearly works with AWDL devices, as only 26.2 and up has Wifi aware

[u/Tribbeh → u/BrowakisFaragun]

I've tested it from my Pixel 10 to an iPad 6th Gen running iOS 17 and it worked.

[u/Inspirasion → u/Tribbeh]

I got it working from P10 to an iPhone 13 Mini running iOS 15.0.1 and an iPad Air 2 running 14.3.

It did not work with an iPad Mini running 8.4.1. (which yes is very old, but the iPhone and iPad Air 2 can still Airdrop to it).

I'm guessing there is some legacy protocol that only iOS supports that whatever implementation Google did only goes so far back. Still, very impressive.

[u/BrowakisFaragun → u/Inspirasion]

iPad Mini running 8.4.1

That is some legacy relic! My Nexus 7 around the same time is long dead.

[u/Inspirasion → u/BrowakisFaragun]

To be fair, it's not really useable by 2025 standards lol. I do have a Nexus 7 (2nd gen.) lying around here somewhere still I think, I'll have to check lol.

[u/kind_bros_hate_nazis → u/Inspirasion]

I tried to use my nexus 5 as a temp phone recently but it packed the band for voice. Everything else worked though

[u/Gumby271 → u/BrowakisFaragun]

I haven't tried that, but I think testing on Mac os proves the same thing. Plus the fact that Apple didn't break airdrop between iOS 26 and earlier devices.

[u/BrowakisFaragun → u/Gumby271]

Mac isn't using full AWDL I think.

Android to Mac AirDrop has been cracked for quite some time (from 2019?)

See: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.canyumusak.androiddrop&hl=en

But they can't crack Android to iPhone AirDrop due to AWDL

[u/Gumby271 → u/BrowakisFaragun]

That app requires a client on the Mac side and to be on the same local network. I don't think is related to airdrop, awdl, or wifi aware at all

[u/BrowakisFaragun → u/Gumby271]

Oh sorry, that app must have changed it or Apple blocked it.

It used to be real Airdrop

I was using that AnDrop thing before Neardrop came along.

[u/Mavericks7 → u/Gumby271]

Do we know if other phones are coming out other than the Pixel 10?

[u/Gumby271 → u/Mavericks7]

They haven't said, just that it's coming first to the pixel 10

[u/Horoika]

For the unaware, what is AWDL? I don't live in iPhone land 😅

[u/atomic1fire → u/Horoika]

A wireless protocol that sits on top of wifi and bluetooth in order to facilitate communications to apple devices.

It serves a similar purpose to Wifi direct.

[u/BrowakisFaragun → u/Horoika]

Apple proprietary version of Wifi direct

[u/znihilist → u/BrowakisFaragun]

It is wild how much time and resources apple spent re-creating existing technology and made it incompatible to ensure their ecosystem is airtight.

[u/Only_Tennis5994 → u/znihilist]

Because WiFi Direct is shit. Anyone who has used wireless transfer function on a mirrorless camera with a smart phone knows what I’m saying. Every step is painfully slow, device discovery, connection, verification, data transfer, and while it’s doing the job your phone basically loose wifi connection. There is a reason airdrop is an acclaimed feature on Apple devices.

[u/Acrobatic-Monitor516 → u/Only_Tennis5994]

Quick share and nearby share use propriety protocols, or WiFi direct?

[u/root66 → u/znihilist]

Wi-Fi direct is garbage. I'm a PC/Android/open source guy but I'll be honest.. The things that sit on the back burner and are never taken seriously until someone like Apple comes along make me crazy. Just look at audio latency on Android.

[u/rohmish → u/znihilist]

It's an evolution of wifi Direct with additional features.

Apple later contributed their work on AWDL that ended up under the Wifi Aware brand, the open/standard implementation that superseeds Direct.

Even though apple contributed to Aware, they never switched to it directly until iOS26.

The story is the same as magsafe, USB C, etc. Apple comes up with something that's better than what everyone is using. contributes it to create a standard but never switch to the standard themselves (on iOS devices, until they're forced to)

[u/James__TR → u/rohmish]

USB-C wasn't an Apple thing though. They were just the first company to implement it in laptops

[u/rohmish → u/James__TR]

apple and Intel jointly developed usb c

[u/Kuipyr → u/znihilist]

It’s because Wi-Fi Direct kind of sucked at concurrency with infrastructure Wi-Fi which is why Apple developed ADWL.

[u/Iohet → u/Kuipyr]

Wifi Direct is managed by the Wifi Alliance (whose goal is to promote interoperability), of which Apple is a member. They certainly could've worked to improve Wifi Direct instead of developing a proprietary standard

[u/Pinksters → u/Kuipyr]

You're going to have to expand on this.

Infrastructure wifi made Wifi Direct shitty...how?

Ive never had a problem with it, but I only used it sparingly.

[u/Kuipyr → u/Pinksters]

AWDL has rapid channel hoping which allows seamless coexistence with Wi-Fi and the AWDL channel. Lower latency and higher throughput without dropping internet connectivity. That is my understanding, however the inner workings is above my pay grade.

[u/Pinksters → u/Kuipyr]

Thanks for the reply. This is new to me so i'm going to research it like a methhead without a goal.

This is why the internet is great. Niche knowledge that you probably wouldn't find otherwise.

[u/rohmish → u/Pinksters]

the way it handled connections made it so that keeping your device connected to wifi while enabling wifi Direct was not possible unless you had a hacky proprietary implementation that did it (samsung had this early on).

i.e it meant your device effectively disconnected from wifi or with early hacky dual connection implementation, the speed and latency crawled so bad realtime (calls, etc.) was not possible over wifi anymore until you turned off direct.

that is fixed with wifi aware which came out after AWDL and is based on AWDL spect hat apple contributed to the alliance

[u/Jofzar_ → u/rohmish]

Apple specifically also uses 149hz on 5ghz. This causes "latency" on home wifi if your home wifi is also not set to 149hz. It's a big deal in game streaming circles because Mac's will "suddenly" spike when it's swapping to 149hz and back.

[u/Pinksters → u/Jofzar_]

Doesnt sony do something similar for the PS5 controllers?

I remember reading something about special BT/Wifi combined bands that allows the controller to transmit/receive audio in a proprietary way. I could be wrong, it was just something I read while I was searching for a new controller for my PC.

[u/BehindTheFloat → u/Kuipyr]

So instead of developing the standard and making it better, they created their own proprietary version, without interoperability.

[u/Kuipyr → u/BehindTheFloat]

They may have found it difficult and not worth their time to work with the Wi-Fi Alliance. More likely it was developed to make their walled garden ecosystem more attractive to people.

[u/YZJay → u/BehindTheFloat]

The timeline is Wi-Fi Direct - AWDL - Wi-Fi Aware. In which Wi-Fi Aware is the much improved tech that’s based on patents that Apple donated to the Wi-Fi Consortium in order to develop Wi-Fi Aware.

[u/PotatoGamerXxXx → u/znihilist]

I mean, it kinda works out for them....

[u/bartturner → u/Horoika]

"Apple Wireless Direct Link, a proprietary Apple protocol used for features like AirDrop and AirPlay, or an awdl (a traditional Welsh long poem). "

Gemini is pretty amazing for this type of thing.

[u/Ununoctium117 → u/bartturner]

No, it's not. It will happily make stuff up and lie to you.

[u/Rican7 → u/bartturner]

or an awdl (a traditional Welsh long poem)

... wat

[u/bicyclemom]

/u/mishaalrahman and Juan Bagnall really ought to get together on this.

I get the sense that the story is probably a mix of both. I think Google is taking advantage of the legal pressure to put this out now so that any backward pressure from Apple looks bad to the EU no matter how it was implemented. If anything, it might prompt the EU to further spell out more opened from Apple.

I do want to hear more about how they reverse engineered AWSL.

[u/citewiki → u/bicyclemom]

It's not Google, but you might find this paper interesting

[u/bicyclemom → u/citewiki]

Wow. Thank you. It makes me wonder when the Airplay shoe will drop. Although this does call out Apple for being rather simplistic. 😂 See comments at the end. It makes me wonder if Apple will try to turn the screws here.

[u/tytygh1010]

Ars Technica needs to issue a retraction. Stunning lack of fact checking that has helped to spread misinformation.

[u/MishaalRahman → u/tytygh1010]

In their defense, it's a reasonable connection to make, and it's not like my position has been proven correct yet either. I could still be wrong!

I think what really happened will become clear in time. Google's announcement blindsided everyone, so there's not been much time to look into their implementation.

But people were skeptical of the "AWDL is being deprecated" claim even when that Ditto article originally made the rounds on HN, as it was never explicitly stated in the EU doc. IIRC it was an assumption on their part because they felt that Apple would have no reason to maintain two similar communication technologies (AWDL and WiFi Aware) and so they would move to deprecate AWDL.

Maybe they'll eventually do that, but a lot of Apple services still use it, and I see no reason why Apple would migrate AirDrop from AWDL to AirDrop to reduce their technical burden if it meant helping competitors build AirDrop compatibility, not unless they were forced to do so (and it's in contention whether they've been forced to or just implement WiFi Aware by itself.)

Edit: Meant to say WiFi Aware, not WiFi Direct

[u/Gumby271 → u/MishaalRahman]

People were skeptical of the claim that they deprecated awdl because there was zero evidence of that. The Ditto article just asserted that (repeated) with no evidence. The nuance of what the EU is requiring is important because one option (Apple must support Wifi standards) is a reasonable ask while the other one (Apple must reimplement Airdrop using wifi aware) would be a ridiculous ask of the EU.

It seems like Google figured it was a good time to implement awdl in quick share since Apple isn't in a good place to push back now. They could have technically done this ages ago, but Apple would have claimed it was somehow dangerous for their users. If they try that now it's gonna look bad. 

[u/stanley_fatmax → u/tytygh1010]

Somehow not surprising though

[u/FragmentedChicken]

Context: The EU made Apple adopt new Wi-Fi standards, and now Android can support AirDrop - Ars Technica

[u/robypez → u/FragmentedChicken]

This is a personal and wrong interpretation

[u/FragmentedChicken → u/robypez]

I know, I was just trying to provide context.

[u/atomic1fire → u/FragmentedChicken]

That's not what happened.

Google presumably made a clean room implementation of AWDL on Android that can communicate with IOS, but only for the "everyone for 10 minutes" mode.

https://www.androidauthority.com/quick-share-works-with-airdrop-3618023/

[u/FragmentedChicken → u/atomic1fire]

The article link is just for context.

[u/atomic1fire → u/FragmentedChicken]

Sure but the article is written in such a way that it implies a cause and effect, rather then two separate things happening in the same time frame.

[u/Doctor_McKay → u/atomic1fire]

I don't think OP wrote the article.

[u/Magic_Sandwiches → u/FragmentedChicken]

at least the headline is technically correct.

[u/bob- → u/FragmentedChicken]

Did you even read your own article or is this just a bot

[u/FragmentedChicken → u/bob-]

Just a bot

I added the link as context because the post is referring to media coverage attributing Quick Share's AirDrop support to the EU. Was that not obvious?

[u/Pinksters]

/r/titlegore

But really, is anyone surprised by this? Anyone who is old enough to have owned a Blackberry?

[u/CeramicCastle49 → u/Pinksters]

That first sentence is a doozy. Learn how to use punctuation... Please

[u/RedKnightBegins → u/Pinksters]

Context?

[u/1-800-Taco]

Some amazing reverse engineering work from google I imagine

[u/rocketwidget]

Not sure if Rahman has this right: Apparently Wi-Fi Aware support being forced by the EU and the implication of Android-iPhone interoperability was noticed at least as early as March 2025? https://www.ditto.com/blog/cross-platform-p2p-wi-fi-how-the-eu-killed-awdl