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Android version of popular iPhone feature could be available soon

An Android version of an iOS feature around since iOS 17 could be arriving soon.

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By Alan Friedman

Published: Apr 12, 2026, 8:29 AM

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Android soon to get its version of popular iOS feature. | Image by PhoneArena

Remember Apple's NameDrop feature, introduced with iOS 17? By holding the top edge of your iPhone right near the top of another person's iPhone, or the display of their Apple Watch, you can share your Contact Poster with your contact information, and even share some files. Last year, it turned out that Google was creating its own version of NameDrop, which will be called "Tap to Share."

Tap to Share could launch as a Pixel exclusive at first

We know what Google plans to call this feature because Android Authority was able to activate the UI and posted the image of a card that shows how this feature works. The top of the card calls the feature tap to share and says, "Instantly share contact info, photos, videos, links, location, and more."

So once Google releases this feature, Android users will be able to use it to share all of these items by following these directions that were placed underneath the illustration of two people overlapping the top of each other's Android phones:

Unlock your phone.
Overlap the top edges of both phones in a way that has the screens of both phones facing up. You should be able to view both screens.
Keep the two phones together like this until they glow.

How to use this feature with two Android phones

If this fails to work for some reason, try holding both phones back to back. You must have the two Android phones overlap each other because the feature relies on the use of NFC and the location of the NFC antenna on Android phones varies from model to model.

Screenshot shows possible Tap to Share card for Android users.

This card explains how Android users use Tap to Share. | Image by Android Authority

This feature uses Near Field Communication (NFC) connectivity

On some Android models, the NFC antenna is under the camera module and overlapping the phones places the components on each model close enough to each other to be able to communicate. From the iPhone 7 to the current iPhone 17, the NFC antenna on iOS phones can be found on the top edge of each unit, near the camera module.

Is this a feature Android features want?

Google has not yet dropped any type of hint telling us when we might see this feature make its way onto Android phones. There is a strong possibility that, at least at first, Tap to Share will be exclusive to Pixel models.

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

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