The Samsung Galaxy S26 Gains Native Apple AirDrop Support

Summary

• Samsung is tearing down the walled garden, adding native Apple AirDrop support to its Galaxy S26 series via the Quick Share feature, starting in South Korea today and expanding globally later this week
• The update allows seamless file and photo sharing between Android and iOS devices, bridging a major gap between the two rival ecosystems
• Users can enable the feature in the Quick Share settings by toggling “Share with Apple devices,” though both sender and receiver must set visibility to “Everyone”

Samsung just broke down one of tech’s biggest walls, officially bringing Apple AirDrop support to its Galaxy S26 Series. Seamlessly integrated into the existing Quick Share feature, this game-changing capability fulfills a longstanding promise from Google to expand AirDrop compatibility across the Android landscape following its debut on Pixel 10 phones last year. Currently rolling out first in South Korea, the update will soon hit North America, Europe, Latin America, and beyond later this week, with plans to bless older Galaxy models in the near future.

To tap into this cross-platform file sharing, Galaxy S26 users — after ensuring their Google Play Services are up to date — must manually enable the drop by heading to their “Connected devices” menu, opening Quick Share, and switching on the new “Share with Apple devices” toggle. For a flawless transfer of high-res fit pics or heavy files to and from an iPhone, both Android and Apple users need to switch their AirDrop or Quick Share visibility to “Everyone” while the transfer goes down.

This major update signals a massive shift in mobile interoperability, effectively killing off one of the most annoying friction points between the iOS and Android crowds. By wiring the historically exclusive file sharing protocol directly into Quick Share, Samsung is making tossing media from an iPhone to a Galaxy S26 just as frictionless as sharing between two Apple devices.