Any young’uns reading this ‘ere article won’t remember the hassle of havin’ to use a cable to transfer files. Since then, we’ve come a long way – for the better. Apple is currently leading the file-transfer industry with AirDrop, the gold standard for Apple users. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, Apple’s monopoly is soon to become a duopoly with Google’s launch of Nearby Share on Windows.
Nearby Share is within reach
For whatever reason, Google has only confirmed the Windows Nearby Share beta for the US “and most countries globally.” Rather than telling us which countries can access the beta, we got a list of the ones that can’t – which you can find right here. Thankfully, South Africa is not on that list.
Once set up, you can choose whether Nearby Share can share with everyone around you, your contacts, or only your devices. It’ll be able to do this as long as the Windows device is up and running, with Nearby Share open on the desktop or in the background. And if both devices sharing files are signed into the same Google account, the sending process is sped up, as the transfer is automatically accepted and transferred.
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Sounds good, right? Sure, as long as you’re a Windows 10 or up user. For anyone that’s still on Windows 7, 8, or 8.1, it’s time to let the OS go. What with Google’s unwillingness to support older software, and Steam’s recent announcements, it would be wise to make the move before any other company shunts you from their software. Anyone rocking ARM-powered Windows devices will get access to Nearby Share, just… not right now. Google hasn’t given any indication of when that’d be.
Those countries that don’t yet have access will have to wait – probably until Nearby Share for Windows is no longer classified as a ‘beta’. As for when that’ll be, we couldn’t say, and neither could Google. If you’re one of those that can access the beta, download Nearby Share Windows here.
