WhatsApp is developing its Bluetooth file-sharing feature that allows nearby users to share files up to 2GB in size, as discovered in the latest WhatsApp for Android beta (version 2.24.2.20).
WhatsApp new capability is intended to simplify file transfers between WhatsApp users, but it could potentially confuse and complicate Android’s newly announced Quick Share experience.
Quick Share, rebranded from Google’s previous Nearby Share feature, aims to provide a unified wireless file-sharing system across Android devices.
Announced by Google and Samsung at CES 2024, Quick Share will facilitate seamless file transfers between Android smartphones, Chromebooks, and Windows PCs. The integration across platforms mirrors Apple’s AirDrop ecosystem.
However, WhatsApp’s parallel development of a similar nearby file-sharing tool utilizing Bluetooth could undermine Quick Share’s purpose of consolidating and streamlining Android’s file-sharing capabilities.
Users will need to open WhatsApp’s new “Share Files” section and remain there until transfers are complete, rather than relying on a system-level sharing menu.
So while WhatsApp’s latest beta showcases helpful new functionality for its users, the timing of this proprietary file-sharing feature unfortunately muddies the waters for Android’s attempts to unify and simplify wireless file exchanges with Quick Share.
WhatsApp introduces potential confusion by presenting users with two overlapping but incompatible nearby sharing mechanisms unique to WhatsApp and core Android respectively.
