Google Announces Quick Share SDK for Android and iOS Apps

Google announced a Quick Share SDK at Android Dev Summit 2026, letting third-party developers build the peer-to-peer file sharing system straight into their apps. It will work on both Android and iOS, according to 9to5Google and SamMobile. Google says the SDK is coming in the first half of 2027.

Today, sharing a file through Quick Share means opening Android’s system Share sheet and then working through the fullscreen Quick Share interface. With the SDK, an app can offer sharing itself. Invoking it inside an app opens a compact bottom sheet where users can preview the files being sent before choosing a nearby device.

Google highlighted several capabilities of the SDK:

• Encryption: transfers are end-to-end encrypted between the two devices, with the data moving across the local network.
• Speed: the SDK sets up a hotspot automatically and uses Wi-Fi Direct on supported devices.
• No compression: photos and videos do not have to be compressed before sending.
• Offline use: sharing works without a cellular connection, which Google positions for offline and constrained-data situations.
• No server costs: developers do not need to maintain their own infrastructure.

Google will also provide an iOS version of the SDK for iPhone apps.

Why it matters

Quick Share has so far been something users reach through the operating system’s share menu. SamMobile notes that the service has passed two milestones since 2020: merging with Google’s Nearby Share and gaining AirDrop compatibility. The SDK is a third step, moving it from a system feature to something individual apps can offer on their own screens.

For developers, the pitch is that file transfer can be added without building and paying for a server backend. For users, it removes the detour through the system-wide menu. Because the SDK covers iOS as well as Android, apps on both platforms could offer the same sharing flow.

With a first-half 2027 release, SamMobile expects apps with built-in Quick Share could begin appearing in the second half of next year.

What we don’t know yet

The sources do not say which apps or companies have signed on, what the SDK will cost developers, or which devices count as supporting Wi-Fi Direct for the faster transfer path. No exact release date has been given beyond the first half of 2027.