Google recently released a feature that allows users to quickly send data, like photos or documents, to a nearby person with a Chromebook or Android device. Now, it appears developers are working on updating that feature so users can easily send data across their own devices.
Nearby Share came to Chrome OS devices in June and competes with similar technologies like Apple’s AirDrop. On Sunday, Chrome Story, a Chrome and Chrome OS-focused blog, spotted an “add feature flag” in the Chromium Gerrit referencing an addition to Nearby Share called Self Share. The feature “enables seamless sharing between a user’s own devices,” the flag reads.
Self Share would allow you to send data to yourself without the use of email or third-party cloud drives. Using Bluetooth, WebRTS, or peer-to-peer Wi-Fi, data should transfer to a nearby Chrome OS or Android device in seconds.
As noted by Chrome Unboxed, Self Share must still go through the Chrome OS Canary developer flag stage before regular Chrome OS users will see it on their devices.
“If you enable the flag, or if you wait until the feature becomes available, a new ‘Send to Your Devices’ menu option will appear once you press ‘Nearby Share’ on the Chrome OS Share Sheet,” Chrome Unboxed wrote.
Self Share would boost interoperability between different Google-based computing devices, but there’s still a long way to go before people insist on all-Google devices in the same way some do with Apple products.