iOS ships with AirDrop, a handy feature that allows a user to share a variety of content between iOS and OS X devices. Instead of a cloud-based repository like Dropbox, AirDrop utilizes a device-to-device transfer system that copies a file or a link and sends it to another iOS device. Because it is a direct transfer, the item is sent and received immediately.
Enabling AirDrop
If you’ve never used it before, AirDrop is simple to turn on and even easier to use. You can turn on AirDrop from within Control Center as follows:
- Swipe upwards from the bottom of the screen to access Control Center.
- Tap AirDrop to enable the feature.
- Choose whether you want to turn off AirDrop, share content with only your Contacts (Contacts Only) or share with everyone who has AirDrop enabled.
Now that AirDrop is enabled, you can begin sharing files and more with other iOS and even OS X devices in just a few steps.
Sharing content via AirDrop
AirDrop works only with select stock iOS apps such as Photos, Safari, and Contacts. The full list of shareable content includes photos, videos, contacts, passbook passes, notes, voice memos, URLs, links to apps in the iOS App Store and map directions. You need to launch an app that has content you want to share and then follow the steps below to send those item(s) to the recipient.
- Tap the content, such as a photo, that you want to share.
- Tap the Share button.
- Tap AirDrop.
- Tap the name of an AirDrop user or the name of an AirDrop-enabled device.
- An alert will be sent to the recipient, and they can choose to accept or decline the transferred item(s),
For AirDrop to work, the two devices must be on the same local Internet connection and Bluetooth should be enabled. It also helps if the devices are physically close to one another.
