EU regulation has led to Apple being forced to open up iOS in ways that many never expected, but it’s not done just yet. In an effort to ensure “effective interoperability” with other platforms, the EU wants Apple to make native features of iOS being compatible with Android, including the likes of AirDrop and more.
Finally. Even though it works horribly.
i’m not sure of the issues that you’re having, but it almost always works perfectly for me - screen mirroring, media control (streaming from device as well as remote control of existing media - even streamed from 1 device to eg a homepod and then using another device to skip etc), airdrop files and photos etc to my own device or others’ devices, even the new ability to walk away and have the transfer continue over the internet
can’t remember the last time i had an issue that wasn’t solved immediately by a retry, and even those issues are very rare
… in my experience at least
600 students, ~100 teachers, everyone has an iPad (plus many have an iPhone). ~20 students per class.
AirPlay often didn’t work with the ‘smart’ boards, and not even much better with the extra AppleTVs we got.
AirDrop only showed ~50% of the students, of course including ones in other classrooms, so that isn’t due to distance. Even if you were displayed, again 50% that the file actually got to you. A restart ‘fixed’ that - but restarting every 1.5 hours for a new class because Apples AirDrop team is apparently just as incompetent as its MDM team is pretty annoying. Then, sometimes, WiFi was way too unstable, but still used by AirDrop normally, which meant nothing worked.
We resorted to teams, which was perfect for me, as I was using a laptop at that point, as it was much better suited for basically everything done in class.
It may work in small groups, eg. one to one, but only if both have an Apple device, which isn’t really likely. And in larger groups, eg. schools, it scales very badly.
Edit: I forgot to say: I have a literal tirade about apple devices, in that context and in general, but that’s only minorly relevant, and I’m too lazy to translate it to english.
Can they add chromecast as well. Absurd that it’s a closed source protocol that still doesn’t work well with Firefox and other browsers.
Chromecast is the only reason I keep chrome installed on my laptop. Would love a better alternative
I use fx_cast extension, it’s been working great for years. Although it needs the “bridge” to be installed, which is some minimal headless chromium thing.
It’s not a seemless experience, as it has a domain whitelist enabled by default, so you need to mess with it in the extension settings first, but once it’s been set up, it’s fine.
Sometimes it can mix up old/expired sessions, so the website would say you’re casting but you’re not. You can just press the “active” cast button and disconnect, then reconnect again.
Some other times (rarely) it fails to mock the casting feature and you won’t see the cast button or it would be disabled. Refreshing the page helps. If not, double check your whitelist.
Is airdrop more than just some random gimmick? All I heard was that people use it to spew memes and dick pics onto unsuspecting passengers in the same subway car and the likes.
It’s very, very useful for people to share videos instantly. For instance, someone takes a video at the end of a dance class and then sends it to the teacher for them to post online after. Or two people want to practice something so they record a small thing and send to the other person. It’s seamless and really quick.
Android users end up having to wait for someone to upload to e.g. Dropbox and then share a link.
Everybody uses whatsapp, just share to the class group or individual. Never had to use Dropbox for anything.
Using some server hundreds of kilometers away to send something to the person standing in front of me does not make any sense.
What’s even more enraging is that phones used to be able to do that until the manufacturers decided to remove the ability and kept replacing it with ever changing inferior alternatives until people rather used whatsapp or dropbox.
Even today I don’t know how to share files to or from my Android phone as easily as I can with AirDrop. Bluetooth sharing is slow as balls and requires setup. Is Quick Share better now, or is it just a new name for the same old feature? I haven’t tested it recently myself.
AirDrop operates over wi-fi with autodiscovery over local networks. No account or pairing required.
when does apple turn around and just stop selling in the EU?
Whenever they want to. The EU is entitled to protect its citizens from anticompetitive behavior and companies are free to stop doing business there if they don’t like it.
I thought competition was about HAVING features that differentiate you from the others; Not forcing everyone to give their good ideas to everyone else?
you are correct, they are not, however, Apple‘s optimization and the mechanisms underpinning how those actually function is significantly different and superior to the regular file sharing that you’re describing. I am not making this information up. You can verify this yourself. I can provide some citations if you wish. And yes, I was foolish to post my comment in an android community.
When something is subject to the network effect, competition requires interoperability. This applies almost universally to technical standards.
It sounds like you are providing a reasoned explanation of ideas, rather than just downvoting me. That can’t be right, can it?
If the fuel for your car were specifically tied to the manufacturer, would that increase or decrease competition?
That’s avoiding the question. It also ignores the fact that there are already multiple competing implementations that are also better than standard Bluetooth file sharing, but that Apple’s walled Garden prevents several of them from being usable on Apple’s devices, so if you’re taking that approach then you’re trading off one method of Apple being anticompetitive for another.
