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AWDL is such an amazing technology, it's understandable that Apple wants to keep it only for their devices as it gives them a noticeable advantage for quick stu

AWDL is such an amazing technology, it's understandable that Apple wants to keep it only for their devices as it gives them a noticeable advantage for quick stuff sharing.

neilalexander 5mo ago
They didn't. Apple contributed the core logic to the Wi-Fi Alliance to build Wi-Fi Aware, which they now also support.
- foltik 5mo ago
  Interestingly, it still took the EU to force them to actually adopt it (and open it up for apps to use) in iOS 26.
- Gigachad 5mo ago
  Kind of. When I looked, they added the api for devs to use on iOS, but it isn’t on macOS yet, and nothing uses it as far as I could see. It’s a future promising tech though. A much better version of Wi-Fi Direct.
- throw0101c 5mo ago
  PSA: * https://www.wi-fi.org/wi-fi-aware-resources https://www.wi-fi.org/wi-fi-aware-resources * https://developer.apple.com/documentation/WiFiAware https://developer.apple.com/documentation/WiFiAware * https://developer.android.com/develop/connectivity/wifi/wifi-aware https://developer.android.com/develop/connectivity/wifi/wifi...
  - gregoriol 5mo ago
    Apple docs say iOS 26/macOS 26, that's so brand new that no apps are using it right now, will have to check that again in a few years.
- max8539 5mo ago
  So, should there be apps that use it to transfer files between iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac without requiring them to be on the same network?
  - Asmod4n 5mo ago
    No WiFi cards for pcs support it.
    - sleepybrett 5mo ago
      it might be interesting to use unused or extra wifi cards to support this. My pc motherboard has both wifi and ethernet and I only use the ethernet. That card does absolutely nothing at all.
    - ssl-3 5mo ago
      That's not quite accurate, I don't think. I've definitely used STA and AP modes concurrently on my Windows laptop with the operating system's built-in internet connection sharing function to help troubleshoot a problem in the field. That was around a decade ago. It didn't take any extra effort on my part; I just told it to do the thing, and then it did that thing.
    - max8539 5mo ago
      Researched this for a bit: there is some hardware for PCI supporting it, but Windows 10/11 not, and Linux is still work in progress, so no real support on OS level, only for some iOS/Android devices.
      - Asmod4n 5mo ago
        Afaik the hardware supports it for a while now, but there is no firmware to expose the functionality.
  - jeroenhd 5mo ago
    Google's QuickShare contains a reverse-engineered AWDL implementation that works on Pixel and a few other phones. As for WiFi NAN: support for it seems rather limited outside of iOS and Android. From what I can tell the feature is barely tested on Linux and I can't find any generic Windows APIs for it either.
deleted 5mo ago
[deleted]
tencentshill 5mo ago
The EU required they use an open standard https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/the-eu-made-apple-adopt-new-wi-fi-standards-and-now-android-can-support-airdrop/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/the-eu-made-apple-ad...
kennywinker 5mo ago
Except 20% of the time it just doesn’t work. Hardly an advantage if most people default to texting because of airdrop’s failure rate
- hahamaster 5mo ago
  Agreed. It's been like that for years.
- gregoriol 5mo ago
  We have been using AWDL intensely (not via AirDrop but Network.framework) for 6+ years and it fails less than 5% of the time. It's pretty impressive for a non-connected link between devices. The most common problems we face are very high device density places (100+ device in 30sqm space) and device wandering out of reach quickly (sometime as low as 5m).
lxgr 5mo ago
AWDL really isn't that novel, neither as an idea nor implementation. What Apple did nail is the user experience on top of it.

AWDL is such an amazing technology, it's understandable that Apple wants to keep it only for their devices as it gives them a noticeable advantage for quick stuff sharing.

neilalexander 5mo ago

They didn't. Apple contributed the core logic to the Wi-Fi Alliance to build Wi-Fi Aware, which they now also support.

foltik 5mo ago
Interestingly, it still took the EU to force them to actually adopt it (and open it up for apps to use) in iOS 26.
Gigachad 5mo ago
Kind of. When I looked, they added the api for devs to use on iOS, but it isn’t on macOS yet, and nothing uses it as far as I could see. It’s a future promising tech though. A much better version of Wi-Fi Direct.
throw0101c 5mo ago
PSA: * https://www.wi-fi.org/wi-fi-aware-resources https://www.wi-fi.org/wi-fi-aware-resources * https://developer.apple.com/documentation/WiFiAware https://developer.apple.com/documentation/WiFiAware * https://developer.android.com/develop/connectivity/wifi/wifi-aware https://developer.android.com/develop/connectivity/wifi/wifi...
- gregoriol 5mo ago
  Apple docs say iOS 26/macOS 26, that's so brand new that no apps are using it right now, will have to check that again in a few years.
max8539 5mo ago
So, should there be apps that use it to transfer files between iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac without requiring them to be on the same network?
- Asmod4n 5mo ago
  No WiFi cards for pcs support it.
  - sleepybrett 5mo ago
    it might be interesting to use unused or extra wifi cards to support this. My pc motherboard has both wifi and ethernet and I only use the ethernet. That card does absolutely nothing at all.
  - ssl-3 5mo ago
    That's not quite accurate, I don't think. I've definitely used STA and AP modes concurrently on my Windows laptop with the operating system's built-in internet connection sharing function to help troubleshoot a problem in the field. That was around a decade ago. It didn't take any extra effort on my part; I just told it to do the thing, and then it did that thing.
  - max8539 5mo ago
    Researched this for a bit: there is some hardware for PCI supporting it, but Windows 10/11 not, and Linux is still work in progress, so no real support on OS level, only for some iOS/Android devices.
    - Asmod4n 5mo ago
      Afaik the hardware supports it for a while now, but there is no firmware to expose the functionality.
- jeroenhd 5mo ago
  Google's QuickShare contains a reverse-engineered AWDL implementation that works on Pixel and a few other phones. As for WiFi NAN: support for it seems rather limited outside of iOS and Android. From what I can tell the feature is barely tested on Linux and I can't find any generic Windows APIs for it either.

deleted 5mo ago

[deleted]

tencentshill 5mo ago

The EU required they use an open standard https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/the-eu-made-apple-adopt-new-wi-fi-standards-and-now-android-can-support-airdrop/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/the-eu-made-apple-ad...

kennywinker 5mo ago

Except 20% of the time it just doesn’t work. Hardly an advantage if most people default to texting because of airdrop’s failure rate

hahamaster 5mo ago
Agreed. It's been like that for years.
gregoriol 5mo ago
We have been using AWDL intensely (not via AirDrop but Network.framework) for 6+ years and it fails less than 5% of the time. It's pretty impressive for a non-connected link between devices. The most common problems we face are very high device density places (100+ device in 30sqm space) and device wandering out of reach quickly (sometime as low as 5m).

lxgr 5mo ago

AWDL really isn't that novel, neither as an idea nor implementation. What Apple did nail is the user experience on top of it.