According to 9to5Google, the old functionality of Android Beam can be brought back to life. With nearby sharing, you can relive the good old days of sharing contacts with just a tap.
Nearby Sharing is a feature that allows you to connect directly to a nearby device as long as Bluetooth and the feature are turned on. Unfortunately, many users who are not technicians may not be aware that nearby sharing even exists. This can make it difficult or boring to explain to them the activation of the feature.
Fortunately, thanks to NFC, you can bring Android Beam back to the land of the living with the nearby share feature. Tap-to-send works with the nearby share feature, so you don’t have to worry about connecting to another device or turning on the feature settings.
Sharing near Tap-to-Send effectively revives Android Beam
A post on the / r / Android subdirectory revealed that you can just share an item using the share near the pop-up share sheet. After pulling out the share sheet, you can just tap the back of the device you want to share with. However, the only real caveat is that the other user must also activate NFC.
The original installer / u / 40percentreddit says this new version may be more responsive than the old Android Beam. The original poster states that the devices seem capable of picking up on each other when side-by-side on a desk. It takes away from the fun of typing devices together.
If you can’t just sit your devices next to each other, just tap the devices back to back. 9to5Google says it tried to place the devices next to each other, but still needed to touch them together.
Since Android Beam was a great way to share information between devices, it can be just as useful. Especially for those who are less tech-savvy. You may even be able to get them to take more interest in technology. Especially when they see how easy it is to use this feature.
For family members who still want you to send photos, videos, web pages, etc. at random, it can certainly make the ordeal a lot easier. After you put the devices together, you don’t have to keep them together after you accept the transfer.
It looked like Android Beam was dead and gone. But now he’s back from the dead thanks to Sharing nearby. Now launch all images, videos and web pages.