Android Nearby Share with everyone incoming

It would appear that Google has a new way to share files in the mix with Android. Per the latest version of Google Play Services and some creative work looking at the code for the system, Nearby Share with "everyone mode" is nearly ready for the pubic. This update would add "Everyone" to device visibility right next to "Contacts" and "Hidden" in Nearby Share.

In the XDA Developers peek at this new update for Android, Nearby Share with "Everyone" seems to be available both temporarily and "all the time." It's not recommended that a person would keep this "everyone mode" on all the time – as it wouldn't be particularly prudent for the privacy-minded – but still, the option remains.

In the video below you'll see a demonstration of this update to Nearby Share in action. This demonstration shows a Google Pixel 4 sharing with three other smartphones. Those phones include an LG Velvet, OnePlus 9 Pro, and ASUS ROG Phone 5.

Per the demo, this Nearby Share with Everyone can only share files between devices one at a time. This means that while you'll be sharing with everyone, the connection remains restricted, device-to-device, to a one-on-one setup.

If you have a Google Pixel smartphone and haven't given Nearby Share a try – go do it! It's one of the simplest and most effective ways yet enabled for an Android smartphone to share a file with another Android smartphone locally.

The "Everyone" feature is not yet enabled on Android devices in the public, but we're expecting this update to appear for Pixel smartphones first, and soon. Cross your fingers for wider adoption in the next few weeks and months! Take a peek at the timeline below for more recent Pixel news too – upgrades aplenty in the leaks for a likely October release!