Android 12 Nearby Share lets devices be visible to ‘Everyone’
Besides a slew of Material You additions and other enhancements, Android 12 Beta 5 today expands — as we’ve been expecting — Nearby Share with an “Everyone” device visibility option and redesigned QS pane.
When you tap the Nearby Share tile in Quick Settings on Android 12 Beta 5, you now get a shorter panel dedicated to controlling “Device visibility.” You also get a shortcut to open the modernized “Settings” page in the corner. Previously, on Android 11, you’d get a taller sheet to find nearby devices.
“Hidden” — where you’re “Not visible to anyone” — is unchanged from before. The new middle “Contacts” option replaces “All contacts,” while “Some contacts” as a dedicated state is gone. Rather, above the list of contacts, you get to toggle off “Visible to all contacts” and select people like before.
Android 11 vs. Android 12
Lastly, “Everyone” means “anyone can share with you when they are nearby.” There are two options to control permanence, with the Quick Settings tile enabling the first:
- Use everyone mode temporarily: For your privacy, visibility automatically switches back to your previous setting Hidden after a few minutes.
- Keep everyone mode on all time
Google is veering towards privacy and limitations with Nearby Share, thus avoiding the iOS AirDrop issue.
More about Android 12:
Dylan Roussel contributed to this article
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