For a long time, Apple’s AirDrop content sending and receiving system was almost a symbol of the much better experience between devices offered by Cupertino compared to its main rivals, read Google and Android. Well, the latter did not want to be left behind and, in recent months, launched a system mechanism, called Nearby Share, on smartphones. Now, just a few hours ago, they announced their compatibility with Chrome OS. So we want to show you how to use Nearby Share on a Chromebook.
As we said, we refer to universal systems to transfer files between different computers, with the advantage that it is not necessary to resort to third-party platforms, such as messengers, websites such as WeTransfer , etc.
Right now, we know Nearby Share is available on Chromebooks with Chrome OS 89 and later and on devices with Android 6.0 and later. Therefore, you only have to have products that meet these conditions, to send or receive documents, photos or videos, in the simplest way.
Configure Nearby Share, the first thing you have to do
Before starting, you may need to configure Nearby Share on your Chromebook , as follows:
- Open the Chrome OS Settings on your Chromebook, from the Taskbar
- Once in that tab, look for “Connected devices” in the sidebar
- You will see «Share with nearby users» in the list of options
- Give the device a name, and go to Next
- Next, you must decide who can share files with you. The alternatives are the usual ones: all contacts, only some contacts, or hidden, so that no one can see your computer. The second of the alternatives is the only one that will require a bit of additional configuration, keep that in mind
- When you have finished, you must click on Confirm, to give the go-ahead
How to use Nearby Share on a Chromebook, quick and easy
As you probably imagine, Nearby Share works in two different ways, both sending and receiving files, and the procedure is similar in some cases, although it has certain differences.
Send files through Nearby Share
- Click on the Chromebook App Launcher icon in the lower left corner
- Once you have done it, open the application dedicated to Files
- Find the file you want to share, and right click
- Select “Share” from the context menu
- Nearby Share will appear on the screen
- Indicate the nearby device with which you want to synchronize, and OK will start the transfer
- As you can see in the image above, the file will be downloaded in the second terminal
Receive files through Nearby Share
Receiving documents, photos or videos with Nearby Share on a Chromebook is very simple. You just have to make sure that the computer is not locked, and that other devices can see it. When a device wants to share something with it, a notification will appear asking you if you are interested in receiving this file.
Conclusions
Given that more and more users prefer Chrome OS computers over those that run Windows, we consider that this trick can be very useful for many of them in taking advantage of them. After all, transferring files can be one of the most annoying things we have to do and, above all, when there are many, or when we do not have other programs to give us a hand.