If you don’t already know by now, Nearby Share, an Airdrop competitor from iPhone, feature for Android is rolling out for a number of smartphones across the globe. The first devices to receive this feature are Google’s Pixel lineup via Play Services beta version and some Chrome OS devices. Just yesterday, Nearby Share toggle suddenly showed up on Samsung Galaxy devices worldwide right in the quick access panel; that too without any system update.
Today, we are stumbled upon a Nearby Sharing flag in Chrome for desktop stable build. So you can enable this feature for Windows PC, Macs, Linux machines, and any device that can install the Chrome for desktop application. However, there’s a catch. It may not work out of the box.
Earlier this month, the Nearby Sharing feature hit the Chrome OS. It also has a user interface where you can interact with other devices nearby via WiFi, Bluetooth, Mobile Data, and other communication means. That’s not the case with Chrome browser. You do not see a user interface where you can actually search for nearby devices.
Unlike ChromeOS, enabling Nearby Sharing on stable Chrome browser won’t give you a user interface where you can actually use the feature. For now, it’s just a Chrome flag that you can enable. Maybe later on Google will add a UI where you can see the feature actually working. So in conclusion, even though Nearby Sharing comes to Chrome for desktop, it may be unusable for now.
Yes, we checked and did not find the flag on the latest Chrome for Android stable build. But that makes sense as Nearby Sharing is already an Android feature. Getting it to Chrome for Android may be overkill. But who know? Its Google after all.
How to enable Nearby Sharing on Chrome for Desktop? Windows, Mac, Linux, and more
Make sure you have the latest Google Chrome Version 84.0.4147.105 (Official Build) (64-bit) or later.
Launch Chrome browser on your Windows, Mac, or Linux machine.
In the address bar, enter this URL: chrome://flags/
Search for “Nearby Sharing” flag
Or simply visit chrome://flags/#nearby-sharing
Enable Nearby Sharing.
Relaunch Chrome.
Note: Nearby Sharing may not be available on Chrome for desktop just yet. If you find a way to get to the Nearby Sharing user interface on your desktop or laptop somehow, please comment down below.