This is a game changer: I can finally AirDrop from my Samsung Galaxy S26 to an iPhone

• Samsung updates Quick Share
• Wireless file and photo sharing feature will now support iPhone AirDrop
• Only the Galaxy S26 series for now

Samsung has just broken a major platform barrier, and one that will certainly delight iPhone and Samsung Galaxy owners: its version of Quick Share will soon support Apple’s AirDrop.

Quick Share and AirDrop perform essentially the same function but on separate platforms (Android and iOS, respectively). Each allows you to quickly transfer files, photos and videos wirelessly from one phone to another. Both use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to establish the ad hoc connection. So far, neither has worked on iPhone and Galaxy phones, but that’s about to change.

Starting March 23 in South Korea and the following week in the United States, Quick Share will receive an update allowing Galaxy phones to share files to iPhones via AirDrop. The caveat – and it’s an important one – is that this will only work with Samsung Galaxy S26 phones. Samsung says it will add more devices “at a later date.”

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Enabling the feature should be easy. On your Galaxy S26 device, open the Quick Panel and select Connected Devices, then Quick Share. Next, select the new “Share with Apple devices”. After that, you’ll have the option to select a nearby iPhone, assuming it’s open to everyone (or contacts, we presume).

Following Pixel’s lead

Samsung’s update follows Google’s local sharing technology update that also added AirDrop support to Quick Share on Pixel devices late last year. Quick Share on Pixel 10 devices shares the same architecture as Quick Share on Galaxy phones, so it’s not that surprising that the S26 phones now have AirDrop capabilities.

At the moment, it’s unclear whether the S26 version of Quick Share will follow the Pixel 10’s lead and also allow iPhones to AirDrop files to Galaxy S26 phones. It’s easy to do on the Pixel 10 and, if Samsung misses this feature, this Quick Share update would only be half a solution. Still, since this is likely based on Google’s technology, there’s good reason to believe it will work both ways.

This growing support for AirDrop can only mean good things for future Android devices from all sorts of manufacturers, as this support is clearly coming to the platform level.

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A 38-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance has been covering technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “online” meant “waiting.” He is a former editor-in-chief of Lifewire, editor-in-chief of Mashable, and, before that, editor-in-chief of PCMag.com and senior vice president of content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.

Lance Ulanoff makes frequent appearances on national, international and local news programs, including Live with Kelly and Mark, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN and the BBC.