NearDrop For Mac

iPhones, iPads, and Macs are designed to work together, with features like AirDrop allowing you to transfer content and switch between devices at a moment’s notice. But if you prefer to use an Android phone, there is very limited integration possible between your handheld and your Mac.

NearDrop is an open-source app that seeks to take advantage of Google’s Nearby Share, a technology similar to AirDrop that is available for Android, ChromeOS, and Windows. The idea is to provide the same quick file transfer capabilities between an Android and Mac.

Sadly, there are some limitations. For starters, your Mac can only receive files, as it is not possible to send things to your Android device. Perhaps this will be implemented in a later version, but it seems unlikely.

Unlike Nearby Share, NearDrop only works on Wi-Fi, meaning the two devices need to be connected to the same network in order to transfer content.

Finally, the app will be visible to all devices on your network at all times, since limiting visibility to specific people would require interacting with Google’s servers.

While it does have some rather important limitations, NearDrop can still be very useful. It allows you to quickly send files from an Android device to your Mac over a local network, which would otherwise require a lot more effort via other means.