At I/O 2022, Google announced an upgrade to Nearby Share that will let users quickly copy text or images on one device and share it with another. This feature hasn’t rolled out yet, but it’s possible to enable it in the latest version of Google Play Services. Here’s a demo: pic.twitter.com/Z1k7J8OcpV
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) June 20, 2022
Now, as Rahman pointed out, this is nothing new in terms of functionality. Currently, you can use Nearby Share to send files, but you must first select it from a menu of other sharing options. However, with a dedicated button on Android 13’s clipboard overlay, you won’t have to dig through menus to transfer text or a picture to another device. Just copy the content and tap on Nearby Share once it shows up — it saves you a step in the process. Rahman also noticed that the shared text or image doesn’t currently appear in the clipboard of the other device. According to him, this could change once the feature is officially available, though, Google may want to keep things simple and just treat it as normal file sharing, instead of shared clipboards. Android 13, with all its new goodies, is expected to land on eligible Pixel devices in August or September.