Google has recently launched Nearby Share on Windows, which allows users to share files between their Android and Windows devices. However, there has yet to be any support for macOS. Meanwhile, macOS has its own protocol for file sharing called AirDrop, which works on Apple devices and allows users to share files between their Apple devices.
If you want to share files between your Android device and macOS, you can use Nearby Share on Mac, even though it’s not officially supported by Google. Thanks to Grish Khachatryan, who developed NearbDrop for Apple devices, which allows users to send files between their Android device and Mac over a Wi-Fi network.
I built an unofficial Nearby Share receiver for macOS
by u/grishkaa in Android
This is an open-source project available for download from GitHub. Once you install it, grant permission and use your Android phone to share files via Nearby Share. It’s a great way to send small files from your Android to macOS.
- Download NearDrop: Nearby Share for macOS from GitHub or Downlaod from AndroidFileHost NearDrop.
- Install the app, and then grant permission to access your notifications.
- Now, head over to the file that you want to share.
- Click on Share to open the Share Sheet for the file, and then select Nearby Share. Your Mac should appear in the list of devices.
- Choose the Mac, and your file will start sharing with the selected device.
After choosing your Mac as the target device, your Mac will have a notification from NearDrop. You need to accept the file to confirm that you want to receive it there. Simply click the Options button and select Accept to ensure that you wish to receive the file. The file you received will appear in your computer’s download folder by default.
[Image Courtesy: AndroidPolice]
It’s currently in development and will improve over time. If you encounter any problems, don’t hesitate to report them on GitHub or on Twitter so the developer can work on resolving the issue. However, at this point, you can only share files from your Android device to macOS but won’t be able to send files from your macOS device to your Android device.
As this is a third-party application you downloaded and installed outside the Apple Store, macOS is likely to restrict it from running by default because of security measures to prevent any malicious apps. But you can follow the following instructions to override those security measures:
[Image Courtesy: Authority Media]
- Open Finder and head over to the Application Folder.
- Right-click on NearDrop and choose Open.
- macOS will prompt a security warning. Click on Open Anyway, and now you can start using NearDrop anytime in the future.
The developer managed to reverse engineer (decompile Google Service Framework apk) some of the Nearby Share functionality and enabled some functionality that works on Macs. Unlike Google’s Nearby Share, where you need to enable Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct, and Location, among other connectivity standards, to establish the pairing of your device, NearDrop only requires users to be connected on the same Wi-Fi network and doesn’t require you to sign in with a Google account either.
Because of not having a strong connectivity protocol between two devices, NearDrop is slower than the official Nearby Share. Users don’t need to worry about security as Google built the Nearby Share Protocol with peer-to-peer, which means it’s end-to-end encrypted.
