Samsung Galaxy Book Go review: Crazy value at a crazy price

I can’t tell you how excited I was to write this review. When Qualcomm announced its Snapdragon 7c chipset back in December 2019, it really piqued my interest. It promised the traditional value propositions like integrated cellular connectivity, thinner and fanless designs, and better battery life, but at a price point that most certainly wasn’t traditional. The sub-$500 laptop market isn’t a good one, and has few products I can recommend, but the Samsung Galaxy Book Go offers things that others don’t.

When Snapdragon 7c devices first started shipping, they were in educational devices, and later, on Chromebooks like the Acer Chromebook Spin 513. Now, the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 is here in the Galaxy Book Go. Like the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2, the new chipset is only a clock speed bump over its predecessor.

The Samsung Galaxy Book Go, unfortunately, sheds integrated cellular connectivity in the base model, but the rest is there. It’s a fanless PC that weighs in at three pounds. Indeed, that’s not something you see on a laptop that only costs $349. There are 4G LTE and 5G tiers as well.

Navigate this review:

• Design: The Samsung Galaxy Book Go looks and feels premium
• Display and audio: The 14-inch FHD screen
• Keyboard and touchpad: It’s a standard Chiclet-style keyboard
• Performance and battery life: The Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 doesn’t get help from 4GB RAM
• Conclusion: Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Book Go?

Samsung Galaxy Book Go specs

Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2, 2.55GHz
Graphics	Qualcomm Adreno
Body	12.75″x8.85″x0.59″, 3.04 pounds
Display	14 inches, 1,920×1,080, 220 nits, LED
RAM	4GB LPDDR4x
Storage	128GB eUFS
Battery	5,480mAh, 2-cell Li-ion
Ports	(2) USB 3.1 Type-C (1) USB 2.0 Type-A (1) 3.5mm audio MicroSD card reader
Audio	2 x 1.5W Dolby Atmos
Webcam	720p
Wireless	Bluetooth 5.1, 802.11ac
Material	Plastic
Color	Silver
OS	Windows 10 Home
Price	$349.99

This model was provided to me by Qualcomm, and it’s the base model. There are going to be more variants, such as the 5G model with a Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2.

Design: The Samsung Galaxy Book Go looks and feels premium

As far as design goes, the Samsung Galaxy Book Go looks and feels like a premium device.

I’ve reviewed hundreds of laptops in my career, and many of them are meant to be entry-level. All of those have a common theme though. They’re a lot thicker and heavier than premium devices. Indeed, they often offer the same Core i5 or even the Core i7 that you’d get in an ultrabook, with a solid 8GB of RAM, but you make compromises in other ways.

As far as the design goes with the Samsung Galaxy Book Go, it looks and feels like a premium device. What I mean by that is if I put this on a shelf with a half-dozen premium ultrabooks and convertibles, you probably wouldn’t be able to guess which one costs $349. And when I say it feels premium, I have to say I was surprised when I saw it was made out of plastic. Just by the feel, I thought it was metal.

The color it comes in is silver, so there’s nothing about it that really stands out. I still like the look a lot better than a gray laptop, like other Samsung laptops. The only marking on the lid is the shiny Samsung logo.

This is actually the first Windows on ARM device that I’ve seen with a USB Type-A port, which is cool. It’s USB 2.0 unfortunately, but you can still use it for connecting basic peripherals like a mouse.

You’ll also find two USB Type-C ports, one on each side. It’s always nice to be able to choose which side to plug a charger into. On the left side, there’s also a 3.5mm audio jack and a microSD card slot, so the ports really do check the right boxes.

Display: The 14-inch FHD screen

While it’s impressive that a PC at this price has an FHD resolution, the screen is where you’ll start to remember how much the Galaxy Book Go costs. Frankly, it’s just not good. There’s noticeable color distortion if you try to look at it from any angle, and it screams budget PC.

As you can see from my testing, the color gamut isn’t impressive at all.

There’s no touch, which is no surprise given this is a clamshell laptop instead of a convertible. The bezels are about what you’d expect, narrow on the sides and larger on top to make room for the webcam. Sadly, that webcam is 720p, although again that’s not surprising given the price.

One thing that’s surprisingly good is audio quality. The two 1.5W speakers are placed on the bottom of the device and they support Dolby Atmos. Listening to music on this machine is a much better experience than I’d expect.

Keyboard: It’s a standard Chiclet-style keyboard

One of the biggest pain points of this machine is the display, but the rest of it is pretty good. The Chiclet-style keyboard obviously isn’t winning any awards – it’s not an HP EliteBook or a Lenovo ThinkPad – but it’s solid. For the price, it’s pretty good and I have no complaints.

As you can see from the image above, there’s nothing that stands out here. It’s your standard black keys on top of a silver deck. Above the keyboard is the power button, which sits flush with the deck; however, it’s not a fingerprint sensor. Indeed, any Windows Hello biometric authentication isn’t happening here. That’s a sacrifice made to get to the price, and a reasonable one.

The touchpad is nice and big, at least big enough given the amount of real estate. The whole input experience is pretty good, or at least there isn’t anything bad about it. I’ve had laptops that cost two or three times as much with keyboards that are awful. I’d call this a win.

Performance: The Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 doesn’t get help from 4GB RAM

Like the Snapdragon 8cx before it, the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 is a 150MHz improvement in clock speed over its predecessor. It’s designed for the entry-level, including Chromebooks and the educational market. Samsung is the first to put a Snapdragon 7c in a Windows-based consumer laptop.

It does feel sluggish in every day use, and for the most part, I use native apps. The bulk of my work is done in Microsoft’s Edge browser, which is native to ARM64. Other apps include Skype, OneNote, and Slack, the latter of which runs in emulation.

To be clear, Windows on ARM can run native ARM64 apps and emulated 32-bit x86 apps. There is x64 support coming with Windows 11, and in fact, I did install the Windows 11 preview about halfway through my testing process, just to see how much the experience improves. Indeed, Windows 11 does include various improvements for ARM PCs.

It doesn’t get much better with Windows 11, because there’s only so much you can ask for here. If you want to look across the board at the Intel Pentium Silver or Celeron processors that you’d expect at this price point, performance doesn’t really get any better. In fact, it’s probably worse.

What’s really the bottleneck here is that the Samsung Galaxy Book Go only has 4GB RAM. Windows PCs in 2021 need more than that. If you’ve got a lot of tabs open in the browser, you’re going to find that it has to reload pages from time to time.

On the other hand, Adobe Photoshop was surprisingly smooth. Of course, that’s another app that runs natively these days, along with Lightroom. Unfortunately, Adobe doesn’t offer 32-bit apps for emulation anymore, nor can you get the x64 apps through the Creative Cloud apps. In other words, your only options for Adobe apps are Photoshop and Lightroom.

Honestly, I think 8GB of RAM would completely change the experience for the Galaxy Book Go. There are supposed to be configurations for that, but right now this is the only one on Samsung’s website. In short, the chipset is pretty good for this price point, but 4GB RAM simply isn’t enough.

It’s worth remembering this is a really low price point. I say that because even people that buy inexpensive laptops might not realize how little you get for $350. This is normally a tier I wouldn’t recommend to anyone.

For benchmarks, I only used Geekbench, since that’s all that’s natively supported on ARM. Unfortunately, it doesn’t paint a full picture. Geekbench tests are for the CPU, but Qualcomm’s SoCs are a lot more than that, including the Adreno graphics and the DSP, which combine for the AI Engine.

	Samsung Galaxy Book Go Snapdragon 7c Gen 2	Microsoft Surface Go Pentium Gold 4415Y	Huawei MateBook E Snapdragon 850	Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Core i5-L16G7	Samsung Galaxy Book S Snapdragon 8cx
Geekbench	561 / 1,626	401 / 909	494 / 2,045	510 / 1,727	726 / 2,909

Battery life is fine, but it doesn’t live up to what I expect from Windows on ARM. After all, that’s supposed to be one of the key value props. I only got about six hours of real-world usage. Sometimes it was a bit better, but with a full-sized laptop, I expected more. For example, the Lenovo Flex 5G got over 12 hours for me.

Conclusion: Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Book Go?

The Samsung Galaxy Book Go would be my pick if you’re looking to spend $349.

Now for the big question. Should you buy it? The answer is, it depends. It all depends on how much you’re willing to spend on a laptop. When people ask me for laptop recommendations, my first question is what their budget is. Sometimes they say something crazy like $200. Others are more reasonable, and like I said earlier, I normally don’t recommend anything that costs under $500. But if $349 is what you’re looking to spend, the Samsung Galaxy Book Go would be my pick.

There’s just a lot of value here, and it feels so premium. When I first took it out of the box, I actually said “wow” out loud, because I totally didn’t expect what I got. The build feels great, and that’s made possible by the Snapdragon chip.

It’s not perfect, of course. The display isn’t great, but again, this price point doesn’t get you a great display. The bigger issue is it only has 4GB RAM. To put it simply, you’ll need more, but of course, that means paying more.

All around, the Samsung Galaxy Book Go is a phenomenal value. It’s got a design that’s unheard of for the price, and the overall experience is pretty good.

Samsung Galaxy Book Go

Samsung's Galaxy Book Go is an entry-level laptop with a Qualcomm processor and a unique value proposition

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at Samsung

The post Samsung Galaxy Book Go review: Crazy value at a crazy price appeared first on xda-developers.

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Samsung Galaxy Book Go review: Crazy value at a crazy price

I can’t tell you how excited I was to write this review. When Qualcomm announced its Snapdragon 7c chipset back in December 2019, it really piqued my interest. It promised the traditional value propositions like integrated cellular connectivity, thinner and fanless designs, and better battery life, but at a price point that most certainly wasn’t traditional. The sub-$500 laptop market isn’t a good one, and has few products I can recommend, but the Samsung Galaxy Book Go offers things that others don’t.

When Snapdragon 7c devices first started shipping, they were in educational devices, and later, on Chromebooks like the Acer Chromebook Spin 513. Now, the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 is here in the Galaxy Book Go. Like the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2, the new chipset is only a clock speed bump over its predecessor.

The Samsung Galaxy Book Go, unfortunately, sheds integrated cellular connectivity in the base model, but the rest is there. It’s a fanless PC that weighs in at three pounds. Indeed, that’s not something you see on a laptop that only costs $349. There are 4G LTE and 5G tiers as well.

Navigate this review:

• Design: The Samsung Galaxy Book Go looks and feels premium
• Display and audio: The 14-inch FHD screen
• Keyboard and touchpad: It’s a standard Chiclet-style keyboard
• Performance and battery life: The Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 doesn’t get help from 4GB RAM
• Conclusion: Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Book Go?

Samsung Galaxy Book Go specs

Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2, 2.55GHz
Graphics	Qualcomm Adreno
Body	12.75″x8.85″x0.59″, 3.04 pounds
Display	14 inches, 1,920×1,080, 220 nits, LED
RAM	4GB LPDDR4x
Storage	128GB eUFS
Battery	5,480mAh, 2-cell Li-ion
Ports	(2) USB 3.1 Type-C (1) USB 2.0 Type-A (1) 3.5mm audio MicroSD card reader
Audio	2 x 1.5W Dolby Atmos
Webcam	720p
Wireless	Bluetooth 5.1, 802.11ac
Material	Plastic
Color	Silver
OS	Windows 10 Home
Price	$349.99

This model was provided to me by Qualcomm, and it’s the base model. There are going to be more variants, such as the 5G model with a Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2.

Design: The Samsung Galaxy Book Go looks and feels premium

As far as design goes, the Samsung Galaxy Book Go looks and feels like a premium device.

I’ve reviewed hundreds of laptops in my career, and many of them are meant to be entry-level. All of those have a common theme though. They’re a lot thicker and heavier than premium devices. Indeed, they often offer the same Core i5 or even the Core i7 that you’d get in an ultrabook, with a solid 8GB of RAM, but you make compromises in other ways.

As far as the design goes with the Samsung Galaxy Book Go, it looks and feels like a premium device. What I mean by that is if I put this on a shelf with a half-dozen premium ultrabooks and convertibles, you probably wouldn’t be able to guess which one costs $349. And when I say it feels premium, I have to say I was surprised when I saw it was made out of plastic. Just by the feel, I thought it was metal.

The color it comes in is silver, so there’s nothing about it that really stands out. I still like the look a lot better than a gray laptop, like other Samsung laptops. The only marking on the lid is the shiny Samsung logo.

This is actually the first Windows on ARM device that I’ve seen with a USB Type-A port, which is cool. It’s USB 2.0 unfortunately, but you can still use it for connecting basic peripherals like a mouse.

You’ll also find two USB Type-C ports, one on each side. It’s always nice to be able to choose which side to plug a charger into. On the left side, there’s also a 3.5mm audio jack and a microSD card slot, so the ports really do check the right boxes.

Display: The 14-inch FHD screen

While it’s impressive that a PC at this price has an FHD resolution, the screen is where you’ll start to remember how much the Galaxy Book Go costs. Frankly, it’s just not good. There’s noticeable color distortion if you try to look at it from any angle, and it screams budget PC.

As you can see from my testing, the color gamut isn’t impressive at all.

There’s no touch, which is no surprise given this is a clamshell laptop instead of a convertible. The bezels are about what you’d expect, narrow on the sides and larger on top to make room for the webcam. Sadly, that webcam is 720p, although again that’s not surprising given the price.

One thing that’s surprisingly good is audio quality. The two 1.5W speakers are placed on the bottom of the device and they support Dolby Atmos. Listening to music on this machine is a much better experience than I’d expect.

Keyboard: It’s a standard Chiclet-style keyboard

One of the biggest pain points of this machine is the display, but the rest of it is pretty good. The Chiclet-style keyboard obviously isn’t winning any awards – it’s not an HP EliteBook or a Lenovo ThinkPad – but it’s solid. For the price, it’s pretty good and I have no complaints.

As you can see from the image above, there’s nothing that stands out here. It’s your standard black keys on top of a silver deck. Above the keyboard is the power button, which sits flush with the deck; however, it’s not a fingerprint sensor. Indeed, any Windows Hello biometric authentication isn’t happening here. That’s a sacrifice made to get to the price, and a reasonable one.

The touchpad is nice and big, at least big enough given the amount of real estate. The whole input experience is pretty good, or at least there isn’t anything bad about it. I’ve had laptops that cost two or three times as much with keyboards that are awful. I’d call this a win.

Performance: The Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 doesn’t get help from 4GB RAM

Like the Snapdragon 8cx before it, the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 is a 150MHz improvement in clock speed over its predecessor. It’s designed for the entry-level, including Chromebooks and the educational market. Samsung is the first to put a Snapdragon 7c in a Windows-based consumer laptop.

It does feel sluggish in every day use, and for the most part, I use native apps. The bulk of my work is done in Microsoft’s Edge browser, which is native to ARM64. Other apps include Skype, OneNote, and Slack, the latter of which runs in emulation.

To be clear, Windows on ARM can run native ARM64 apps and emulated 32-bit x86 apps. There is x64 support coming with Windows 11, and in fact, I did install the Windows 11 preview about halfway through my testing process, just to see how much the experience improves. Indeed, Windows 11 does include various improvements for ARM PCs.

It doesn’t get much better with Windows 11, because there’s only so much you can ask for here. If you want to look across the board at the Intel Pentium Silver or Celeron processors that you’d expect at this price point, performance doesn’t really get any better. In fact, it’s probably worse.

What’s really the bottleneck here is that the Samsung Galaxy Book Go only has 4GB RAM. Windows PCs in 2021 need more than that. If you’ve got a lot of tabs open in the browser, you’re going to find that it has to reload pages from time to time.

On the other hand, Adobe Photoshop was surprisingly smooth. Of course, that’s another app that runs natively these days, along with Lightroom. Unfortunately, Adobe doesn’t offer 32-bit apps for emulation anymore, nor can you get the x64 apps through the Creative Cloud apps. In other words, your only options for Adobe apps are Photoshop and Lightroom.

Honestly, I think 8GB of RAM would completely change the experience for the Galaxy Book Go. There are supposed to be configurations for that, but right now this is the only one on Samsung’s website. In short, the chipset is pretty good for this price point, but 4GB RAM simply isn’t enough.

It’s worth remembering this is a really low price point. I say that because even people that buy inexpensive laptops might not realize how little you get for $350. This is normally a tier I wouldn’t recommend to anyone.

For benchmarks, I only used Geekbench, since that’s all that’s natively supported on ARM. Unfortunately, it doesn’t paint a full picture. Geekbench tests are for the CPU, but Qualcomm’s SoCs are a lot more than that, including the Adreno graphics and the DSP, which combine for the AI Engine.

	Samsung Galaxy Book Go Snapdragon 7c Gen 2	Microsoft Surface Go Pentium Gold 4415Y	Huawei MateBook E Snapdragon 850	Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Core i5-L16G7	Samsung Galaxy Book S Snapdragon 8cx
Geekbench	561 / 1,626	401 / 909	494 / 2,045	510 / 1,727	726 / 2,909

Battery life is fine, but it doesn’t live up to what I expect from Windows on ARM. After all, that’s supposed to be one of the key value props. I only got about six hours of real-world usage. Sometimes it was a bit better, but with a full-sized laptop, I expected more. For example, the Lenovo Flex 5G got over 12 hours for me.

Conclusion: Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Book Go?

The Samsung Galaxy Book Go would be my pick if you’re looking to spend $349.

Now for the big question. Should you buy it? The answer is, it depends. It all depends on how much you’re willing to spend on a laptop. When people ask me for laptop recommendations, my first question is what their budget is. Sometimes they say something crazy like $200. Others are more reasonable, and like I said earlier, I normally don’t recommend anything that costs under $500. But if $349 is what you’re looking to spend, the Samsung Galaxy Book Go would be my pick.

There’s just a lot of value here, and it feels so premium. When I first took it out of the box, I actually said “wow” out loud, because I totally didn’t expect what I got. The build feels great, and that’s made possible by the Snapdragon chip.

It’s not perfect, of course. The display isn’t great, but again, this price point doesn’t get you a great display. The bigger issue is it only has 4GB RAM. To put it simply, you’ll need more, but of course, that means paying more.

All around, the Samsung Galaxy Book Go is a phenomenal value. It’s got a design that’s unheard of for the price, and the overall experience is pretty good.

Samsung Galaxy Book Go

Samsung's Galaxy Book Go is an entry-level laptop with a Qualcomm processor and a unique value proposition

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at Samsung

The post Samsung Galaxy Book Go review: Crazy value at a crazy price appeared first on xda-developers.

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via IFTTT

The Ultimate Guide to AirDrop on iPhone and Mac: Everything you need to know about the super convenient file transfer solution

AirDrop is Apple’s file-sharing feature that allows you to easily transfer files among Apple devices. It’s arguably one of the most seamless offline file transfer methods around, and it removes the need to upload your files to the cloud and then download them onto another device. It works on all modern Apple iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

In this article, we’ll talk about everything you need to know about AirDrop, and how you can use it.

Navigate this guide:

• What is AirDrop?
  • History
  • How does it work?
  • Supported Devices
• How to use AirDrop
  • Turn AirDrop on/ off on iOS or iPadOS
  • Turn AirDrop on/ off on Mac
  • How to AirDrop files from iOS or iPadOS
  • How to AirDrop files from Mac
    • Transfer files using the context menu
    • Transfer files using the Share button
    • Drag-and-drop files to AirDrop
  • How to accept AirDrop
• Troubleshoot AirDrop problems
• AirDrop alternatives on iOS
• Nearby Share: Android’s AirDrop alternative

---

What is AirDrop?

AirDrop is a proprietary file-sharing feature from Apple. It uses an ad-hoc Wi-Fi connection to transfer photos, videos, documents, websites, map locations, and a lot more to other Apple devices. Moreover, it doesn’t require any setup, and can automatically detect other Macs or iPhones that are using AirDrop. The feature works completely offline and doesn’t need any kind of internet connection.

History

AirDrop made its debut as a part of Mac OS X Lion back in 2011. But it didn’t arrive on iOS until 2013 when it was added to the iPhone operating system as a part of iOS 7. Even then, the macOS AirDrop protocol and iOS AirDrop protocol weren’t interoperable.

The AirDrop protocol present in Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks only used Wi-Fi, whereas the iOS AirDrop protocol uses both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. So to make AirDrop interoperable on both its platforms, Apple added support for iOS AirDrop protocol to OS X Yosemite. However, the legacy Mac AirDrop protocol is still used to transfer files between a Mac running OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks and another Mac running macOS Mojave or an older version.

Apple finally removed the legacy AirDrop protocol in macOS Catalina. Now, the iOS AirDrop protocol is used to transfer files among all modern iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers.

How does AirDrop work?

The iOS AirDrop protocol (which we’ll just refer to as AirDrop from now on) uses both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to identify nearby devices (within 30 feet) and transfer content. It employs Bluetooth to detect any compatible devices in the vicinity. When a compatible nearby device is selected for a file transfer, AirDrop creates a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection to complete the actual transfer.

Since it uses a peer-to-peer connection, the two devices don’t need to be on the same Wi-Fi network. You can be anywhere with or without internet, as long as you have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi working on both devices. There’s no file size limit either. So you can transfer files as large as you want, given there’s enough space on the recipient device. You can also share pretty much everything between devices.

For data security, AirDrop uses TLS encryption over the peer-to-peer network, so your data is secure as well as private. It also creates a firewall between devices, so no one can access your phone or computer over the connection.

Which devices work with AirDrop?

AirDrop can work with iPhones, iPod touch, iPads, and Macs. The iPhones and iPads need to be running on iOS 7 or newer. To use AirDrop on Mac, you must have the 2012 or newer model (except the 2012 Mac Pro). In the case of the Mac Pro, you should have the 2013 or newer model.

As explained earlier, the older Macs can use the legacy AirDrop, but only if they’re running on macOS Mojave or older, and are airdropping files to another Mac running Mac OS X Lion to Mavericks. Macs running any macOS version older than Lion don’t come with AirDrop, and the legacy AirDrop was dropped in macOS Catalina. So there are very few combinations where legacy AirDrop still works.

Moreover, AirDrop can only be used with Apple devices. There’s no support for Windows or Android. Android has its own AirDrop alternative called Nearby Share. We’ll talk about it later in the article.

How to use AirDrop

Turning it on or off on iPhone or iPad

You can enable the AirDrop feature for just your Contacts or Everyone on iPhone or iPad, or set it to Receiving Off to disable it.

• To enable AirDrop, open Control Center on your iPhone or iPad. Depending on your iPhone model, Control Center can be opened by swiping up from the bottom edge or swiping down from the top right corner of your screen.
• Once Control Center is open, long press on the Wi-Fi button or anywhere in the network settings card, and you’ll see a number of connections-related options, including AirDrop.
• Tap on it to select from Receiving Off, Contacts Only, and Everyone. Everyone means any random person in your vicinity will be able to send files to you.

Turning it on or off on Mac

Similar to iPhone or iPad, you can set AirDrop to No one, Contacts Only, or Everyone on Mac.

• Open Finder on your Mac.
• Click on AirDrop in the left Navigation.
• Under the Allow me to be discovered by dropdown, select No One, Contacts Only, or Everyone.

How to share files from iPhone or iPad

You can send files using AirDrop from any iOS or iPadOS app that includes the Share Sheet.

• Open the app from which you’re trying to send something. For example, open the Photos app if you’re trying to share a photo or photos.
• Select what you’re looking to send and tap on the Share icon.
• Select the contact or device to which you’re trying to AirDrop the file.

Between iPhones and iPads, you can transfer all sorts of things, including photos, videos, contacts, Passbook passes, Voice Memos, websites, and Map locations.

How to share files from Mac

There are multiple ways to AirDrop files from a Mac. You can drag and drop them, share them using the context menu, or use the share sheet.

How to share files using the context menu

• Open Finder on your Mac.
• Locate the file or folder you want to share.
• Right-click on the file or folder and select AirDrop under the Share option.
• You can now click on the device or contact to which you want to send the file.

How to share files using the Share button on Mac

Apart from the context menu, you can also share files using the Share button.

• Open Finder on your Mac.
• Locate and select the file you want to share.
• Click on the Share button in the option on the top bar.
• Select the device or contact to whom you want to send that file.

How to share files using drag and drop

• Open Finder on your Mac.
• Locate the file you need to share.
• Open a new Finder window and select AirDrop from the sidebar.
• Now you can drag and drop files from the other Finder window to a contact or device in the AirDrop window.

From Macs, you can send documents, photos, videos, websites, map locations, and more to iPhones, iPads, other Macs, and iPod touch.

How to accept AirDrop transfer requests

AirDrop to iPhone (left) and Mac

When someone shares something with you using AirDrop, you’ll see a notification on your Mac or iPhone. The notification will show a preview of what has been shared, and you can accept or decline it. If you accept it, the content will get transferred to your device.

But if you’re getting it on your iPhone, the content will appear in the app compatible with it. For example, the shared photo will show up in the Photos app. The files shared to Macs however get saved in the Downloads folder.

If you’re sharing something to yourself, such as from your iPhone to your Mac, you don’t need to accept the transfer. Everything will automatically get transferred, given you’re using the same Apple ID on both devices.

How to troubleshoot AirDrop problems

To make sure AirDrop works without a hitch, check that both devices fulfill the following conditions:

• Both devices are unlocked and within 9 meters of each other.
• Both have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on.
• The Personal Hotspot feature is turned off on each iPhone.
• Each Mac was introduced in 2012 or later (except the 2012 Mac Pro) and runs on OS X Yosemite or newer. Some older Macs can use the legacy AirDrop — you can read about them in the “Which devices work with AirDrop” section.
• The iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is running on iOS 7 or newer.
• Both devices can receive AirDrop requests.
• Block all incoming connections is not enabled in Mac > System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall.
• If AirDrop discoverability is limited to Contacts Only, make sure both of you are signed into iCloud and have each other in your contacts section with Apple ID email address and mobile number.
• While sending files on an older Mac with legacy AirDrop, make sure the recipient has the AirDrop window open.
• If you’re getting random AirDrop requests, change the option to Receiving off/ No one or Contacts Only on your iPhone or Mac.

Alternatives on iOS

Given AirDrop’s deep integration on Apple devices, all third-party AirDrop alternatives fall short on ease of use and overall functionality. But if you’re still somehow having trouble with AirDrop, or are looking to share something outside of Apple devices, the following are decent alternatives to AirDrop.

Xender

Xender is a cross-platform file transfer app that allows you to share photos, documents, music, videos, and other types of files. The app can be used on iOS, Android, and any device with a web browser, including Mac and PC. It uses peer-to-peer Wi-Fi to transfer files, so you don’t need internet access.

Xender

Xender is free to download and use.

Download

AirDroid

AirDroid is similar to Xender in a lot of aspects but it packs far more features. You can transfer files both over peer-to-peer Wi-Fi and the internet. AirDroid is free to download and use, but there are some limitations in the free version.

AirDroid

AirDroid is a decent file sharing app that packs a lot of features.

Download

Nearby Share: Android’s AirDrop alternative

Years after AirDrop was introduced on iOS, Google launched its own alternative in the form of Nearby Share in 2020. Nearby Share works on all phones running Android 6.0 or newer. Unlike Apple’s solution that only works offline, Nearby Share can share content both offline and online. It uses Bluetooth, Bluetooth LE, WebRTC, and peer-to-peer Wi-Fi protocols to share content, and automatically chooses the best protocol when you’re sending something. Apart from Android, Nearby Share can also be used with Chromebooks.

Nearby Share can be accessed in the Share menu on Android phones, and you can use it like any other share option. It isn’t the only file transfer service on Android but it’s something that works across devices and manufacturers.

If you’re looking to transfer files between an Android device and a Windows computer, check out our guide on How to Transfer Files between Android and Windows PC.

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This is everything you need to know about AirDrop. Do you know of any great alternatives to it? Let us know in the comments section. Meanwhile, if you’re in the market for a new laptop or a smartphone, our best phones and best laptops buying guides can help. Also, we have a great tutorial on how you can use split-screen on Mac.

The post The Ultimate Guide to AirDrop on iPhone and Mac: Everything you need to know about the super convenient file transfer solution appeared first on xda-developers.

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The Ultimate Guide to AirDrop on iPhone and Mac: Everything you need to know about the super convenient file transfer solution

AirDrop is Apple’s file-sharing feature that allows you to easily transfer files among Apple devices. It’s arguably one of the most seamless offline file transfer methods around, and it removes the need to upload your files to the cloud and then download them onto another device. It works on all modern Apple iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

In this article, we’ll talk about everything you need to know about AirDrop, and how you can use it.

Navigate this guide:

• What is AirDrop?
  • History
  • How does it work?
  • Supported Devices
• How to use AirDrop
  • Turn AirDrop on/ off on iOS or iPadOS
  • Turn AirDrop on/ off on Mac
  • How to AirDrop files from iOS or iPadOS
  • How to AirDrop files from Mac
    • Transfer files using the context menu
    • Transfer files using the Share button
    • Drag-and-drop files to AirDrop
  • How to accept AirDrop
• Troubleshoot AirDrop problems
• AirDrop alternatives on iOS
• Nearby Share: Android’s AirDrop alternative

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What is AirDrop?

AirDrop is a proprietary file-sharing feature from Apple. It uses an ad-hoc Wi-Fi connection to transfer photos, videos, documents, websites, map locations, and a lot more to other Apple devices. Moreover, it doesn’t require any setup, and can automatically detect other Macs or iPhones that are using AirDrop. The feature works completely offline and doesn’t need any kind of internet connection.

History

AirDrop made its debut as a part of Mac OS X Lion back in 2011. But it didn’t arrive on iOS until 2013 when it was added to the iPhone operating system as a part of iOS 7. Even then, the macOS AirDrop protocol and iOS AirDrop protocol weren’t interoperable.

The AirDrop protocol present in Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks only used Wi-Fi, whereas the iOS AirDrop protocol uses both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. So to make AirDrop interoperable on both its platforms, Apple added support for iOS AirDrop protocol to OS X Yosemite. However, the legacy Mac AirDrop protocol is still used to transfer files between a Mac running OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks and another Mac running macOS Mojave or an older version.

Apple finally removed the legacy AirDrop protocol in macOS Catalina. Now, the iOS AirDrop protocol is used to transfer files among all modern iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers.

How does AirDrop work?

The iOS AirDrop protocol (which we’ll just refer to as AirDrop from now on) uses both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to identify nearby devices (within 30 feet) and transfer content. It employs Bluetooth to detect any compatible devices in the vicinity. When a compatible nearby device is selected for a file transfer, AirDrop creates a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection to complete the actual transfer.

Since it uses a peer-to-peer connection, the two devices don’t need to be on the same Wi-Fi network. You can be anywhere with or without internet, as long as you have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi working on both devices. There’s no file size limit either. So you can transfer files as large as you want, given there’s enough space on the recipient device. You can also share pretty much everything between devices.

For data security, AirDrop uses TLS encryption over the peer-to-peer network, so your data is secure as well as private. It also creates a firewall between devices, so no one can access your phone or computer over the connection.

Which devices work with AirDrop?

AirDrop can work with iPhones, iPod touch, iPads, and Macs. The iPhones and iPads need to be running on iOS 7 or newer. To use AirDrop on Mac, you must have the 2012 or newer model (except the 2012 Mac Pro). In the case of the Mac Pro, you should have the 2013 or newer model.

As explained earlier, the older Macs can use the legacy AirDrop, but only if they’re running on macOS Mojave or older, and are airdropping files to another Mac running Mac OS X Lion to Mavericks. Macs running any macOS version older than Lion don’t come with AirDrop, and the legacy AirDrop was dropped in macOS Catalina. So there are very few combinations where legacy AirDrop still works.

Moreover, AirDrop can only be used with Apple devices. There’s no support for Windows or Android. Android has its own AirDrop alternative called Nearby Share. We’ll talk about it later in the article.

How to use AirDrop

Turning it on or off on iPhone or iPad

You can enable the AirDrop feature for just your Contacts or Everyone on iPhone or iPad, or set it to Receiving Off to disable it.

• To enable AirDrop, open Control Center on your iPhone or iPad. Depending on your iPhone model, Control Center can be opened by swiping up from the bottom edge or swiping down from the top right corner of your screen.
• Once Control Center is open, long press on the Wi-Fi button or anywhere in the network settings card, and you’ll see a number of connections-related options, including AirDrop.
• Tap on it to select from Receiving Off, Contacts Only, and Everyone. Everyone means any random person in your vicinity will be able to send files to you.

Turning it on or off on Mac

Similar to iPhone or iPad, you can set AirDrop to No one, Contacts Only, or Everyone on Mac.

• Open Finder on your Mac.
• Click on AirDrop in the left Navigation.
• Under the Allow me to be discovered by dropdown, select No One, Contacts Only, or Everyone.

How to share files from iPhone or iPad

You can send files using AirDrop from any iOS or iPadOS app that includes the Share Sheet.

• Open the app from which you’re trying to send something. For example, open the Photos app if you’re trying to share a photo or photos.
• Select what you’re looking to send and tap on the Share icon.
• Select the contact or device to which you’re trying to AirDrop the file.

Between iPhones and iPads, you can transfer all sorts of things, including photos, videos, contacts, Passbook passes, Voice Memos, websites, and Map locations.

How to share files from Mac

There are multiple ways to AirDrop files from a Mac. You can drag and drop them, share them using the context menu, or use the share sheet.

How to share files using the context menu

• Open Finder on your Mac.
• Locate the file or folder you want to share.
• Right-click on the file or folder and select AirDrop under the Share option.
• You can now click on the device or contact to which you want to send the file.

How to share files using the Share button on Mac

Apart from the context menu, you can also share files using the Share button.

• Open Finder on your Mac.
• Locate and select the file you want to share.
• Click on the Share button in the option on the top bar.
• Select the device or contact to whom you want to send that file.

How to share files using drag and drop

• Open Finder on your Mac.
• Locate the file you need to share.
• Open a new Finder window and select AirDrop from the sidebar.
• Now you can drag and drop files from the other Finder window to a contact or device in the AirDrop window.

From Macs, you can send documents, photos, videos, websites, map locations, and more to iPhones, iPads, other Macs, and iPod touch.

How to accept AirDrop transfer requests

AirDrop to iPhone (left) and Mac

When someone shares something with you using AirDrop, you’ll see a notification on your Mac or iPhone. The notification will show a preview of what has been shared, and you can accept or decline it. If you accept it, the content will get transferred to your device.

But if you’re getting it on your iPhone, the content will appear in the app compatible with it. For example, the shared photo will show up in the Photos app. The files shared to Macs however get saved in the Downloads folder.

If you’re sharing something to yourself, such as from your iPhone to your Mac, you don’t need to accept the transfer. Everything will automatically get transferred, given you’re using the same Apple ID on both devices.

How to troubleshoot AirDrop problems

To make sure AirDrop works without a hitch, check that both devices fulfill the following conditions:

• Both devices are unlocked and within 9 meters of each other.
• Both have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on.
• The Personal Hotspot feature is turned off on each iPhone.
• Each Mac was introduced in 2012 or later (except the 2012 Mac Pro) and runs on OS X Yosemite or newer. Some older Macs can use the legacy AirDrop — you can read about them in the “Which devices work with AirDrop” section.
• The iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is running on iOS 7 or newer.
• Both devices can receive AirDrop requests.
• Block all incoming connections is not enabled in Mac > System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall.
• If AirDrop discoverability is limited to Contacts Only, make sure both of you are signed into iCloud and have each other in your contacts section with Apple ID email address and mobile number.
• While sending files on an older Mac with legacy AirDrop, make sure the recipient has the AirDrop window open.
• If you’re getting random AirDrop requests, change the option to Receiving off/ No one or Contacts Only on your iPhone or Mac.

Alternatives on iOS

Given AirDrop’s deep integration on Apple devices, all third-party AirDrop alternatives fall short on ease of use and overall functionality. But if you’re still somehow having trouble with AirDrop, or are looking to share something outside of Apple devices, the following are decent alternatives to AirDrop.

Xender

Xender is a cross-platform file transfer app that allows you to share photos, documents, music, videos, and other types of files. The app can be used on iOS, Android, and any device with a web browser, including Mac and PC. It uses peer-to-peer Wi-Fi to transfer files, so you don’t need internet access.

Xender

Xender is free to download and use.

Download

AirDroid

AirDroid is similar to Xender in a lot of aspects but it packs far more features. You can transfer files both over peer-to-peer Wi-Fi and the internet. AirDroid is free to download and use, but there are some limitations in the free version.

AirDroid

AirDroid is a decent file sharing app that packs a lot of features.

Download

Nearby Share: Android’s AirDrop alternative

Years after AirDrop was introduced on iOS, Google launched its own alternative in the form of Nearby Share in 2020. Nearby Share works on all phones running Android 6.0 or newer. Unlike Apple’s solution that only works offline, Nearby Share can share content both offline and online. It uses Bluetooth, Bluetooth LE, WebRTC, and peer-to-peer Wi-Fi protocols to share content, and automatically chooses the best protocol when you’re sending something. Apart from Android, Nearby Share can also be used with Chromebooks.

Nearby Share can be accessed in the Share menu on Android phones, and you can use it like any other share option. It isn’t the only file transfer service on Android but it’s something that works across devices and manufacturers.

If you’re looking to transfer files between an Android device and a Windows computer, check out our guide on How to Transfer Files between Android and Windows PC.

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This is everything you need to know about AirDrop. Do you know of any great alternatives to it? Let us know in the comments section. Meanwhile, if you’re in the market for a new laptop or a smartphone, our best phones and best laptops buying guides can help. Also, we have a great tutorial on how you can use split-screen on Mac.

The post The Ultimate Guide to AirDrop on iPhone and Mac: Everything you need to know about the super convenient file transfer solution appeared first on xda-developers.

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Qualcomm has a new partner to build its chips: Intel [Update: Maybe not]

Next year, Qualcomm is set to introduce a new custom ARM architecture that’s going to compete with Intel’s processors. But a couple of years later than that, Intel might be building Qualcomm’s chips. Today, Intel laid out its roadmap through 2025, renaming its process nodes and showing what each generation will look like. One of those, called Intel 20A, is something that Qualcomm is going to make use of.

Intel 20A is promised to be revolutionary. The firm says that it will bring us into the angstrom era, so process nodes are going to be measured in angstroms, rather than nanometers (an angstrom is a tenth of a nanometer). It’s going to be about 20 angstroms at first, so these are going to be smaller process nodes than we’ve ever seen before, and it should arrive in 2024. Intel 20A also promises an all-new transistor architecture, using the new RibbonFet technology, along with the new PowerVia backside power delivery network.

The move might seem surprising, given that Qualcomm and Intel are such staunch competitors. Indeed, it appears that in many areas, Qualcomm is either winning or gaining ground. Intel attempted to make mobile chips and failed, and later, it had to give up its attempts at making 5G modems for smartphones. In the PC space, Windows on ARM hasn’t really taken off, but with Qualcomm’s acquisition of NUVIA, it has big things planned.

However, it’s not as surprising as you’d think. Rivals partner with each other all the time, even if the divisions partnering aren’t necessarily competitors. In the heated days of Apple iPhone vs Samsung Galaxy, Samsung used to manufacture Apple’s custom ARM processors. We’ve seen Qualcomm partner with Samsung on its Snapdragon chips in recent years, so partnering with Intel is logical if Intel indeed has the better technology.

And one of the key things that new Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger set out to do was to build out the firm’s foundry business. Indeed, this is a deal that works out for everyone involved.

Other than that Qualcomm will be using Intel 20A, there really weren’t any other details provided. Obviously, we’ll find out more between now and 2024.

It would seem that at best, Intel’s boasts about Qualcomm as a foundry customer are premature. Qualcomm’s President and CEO Cristiano Amon was asked about the deal and said the following, according to SemiAnalysis:

Thanks for the question. Look, it’s actually very simple. Qualcomm, we’re probably one of the few companies that, given our scale, is able to have multi-sourcing at the leading node. We have two strategic partners today, which is TSMC and Samsung.

And we’re very excited and happy about Intel deciding to become a foundry and investing in leading node technology to become a foundry. I think that’s great news for the United States fabless industry. We are engaged. We are evaluating their technology.

We don’t yet have a specific product plan at this point, but we’re pretty excited about Intel entering the space. I think we all determined that semiconductors are important and resilient supply chain is only going to benefit our business.

So, as for whether or not Intel will actually be building Qualcomm chips on the 20A node in 2025, the answer is maybe. And if it does happen, it’s not something that’s set in silicon right now.

That’s not entirely surprising either. Intel’s 10nm nodes were supposed to ship years before they actually did, getting delayed time and time again. It’s 7nm process is already delayed as well. If Qualcomm had actually tied itself to Intel’s promise of a 2nm (or 20 angstrom) node in 2025, that would be more surprising.

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