Smartphone applications and games play a big part in our lives, so it’s natural to want to share your favorite apps with your friends and surroundings to share the benefits and enjoy them. But, what if I told you that you can do much more than just telling someone the name of the app and have them search for it! Android makes it easy to share apps with other Android users.
Now there is a different way you can use to easily send an app or game to other Android users. It’s called Nearby Share, which is a feature on Android that is similar to AirDrop on Apple devices. This means you don’t need to exchange contact information or be on the same network as someone to send something to them. You just need the devices to be close to each other.
Today, the Google Play Store provides the best example of Nearby Share, as it includes a built-in feature for sharing apps and games with people, allowing you to share apps and updates between nearby devices. This method is great and very effective because it sends the actual file through the app store, meaning the recipient can quickly install it without having to manually download it at all. But to benefit from this new feature, your device needs to have version 24.0 or later of the Google Play Store.
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Steps to share apps among Android devices using Nearby Share
To start using the Nearby Share feature, remember that you don’t need an internet connection. All you have to do is enable location sharing on both devices. First, go to Google Play Store and click on the three-line menu button at the top, then click on My apps & games within the menu. Now you will see a few tabs at the top, click on Share among them. If you don’t see the share option, try waiting a few minutes as the Play Store may take some time to enable the feature after the update.
In the new Share tab in the Play Store, you will see options to allow your device to either “send” or “receive” a specific Play Store app; to apply that, just follow the previous steps on both your Android devices and then choose Send from the sending device, and choose Receive from the device that wants to receive; regardless of the option you choose, you will need to grant Play Store access to your location, which is used to identify nearby devices for sharing. Now choose Send to be taken to a list of Android apps ready to be sent.
Also read: New features in Google Play Store that you may not be aware of
It is worth mentioning that not all apps can be shared via the “Nearby Share” feature, including apps that you sideloaded away from the main store (through APK files) or apps that are not available to everyone in the Play Store with any nearby device. Once you choose one or more apps to send, you will need to find a receiving device, whether it’s another one of your own devices, a friend’s phone, or a family member’s device, they need to press the Receive option in the Play Store. Choose a recipient to receive the pairing request, where you will both see a pairing code to ensure no intruder enters your session.
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Finally, once paired, sharing will begin, with transfer rates becoming amazingly fast, possibly better than many home internet connections we used to rely on in the past. When the download is complete, the receiver will need to press the Install button for each app or press Install all before they can enjoy their new or updated apps. The two devices remain connected and can share Play Store apps between each other in both directions until the sender or receiver clicks the Disconnect button at the top.
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