Can your Samsung Galaxy A phone now AirDrop files to an iPhone — and how do you turn it on?

Samsung’s One UI 9.0 update is bringing Quick Share’s ‘Share with Apple devices’ option to the lower-cost Galaxy A series — the Galaxy A55 is now compatible, and A56 and A57 owners have confirmed it works. No extra app needed: turn on the toggle, keep both phones close, and share photos, videos and files straight to an iPhone.

You are standing right next to a friend with an iPhone, both of you trying to share the vacation photos, and somehow you still end up emailing them to yourself. Short answer: yes — if your Galaxy A phone has the One UI 9.0 update, Samsung’s Quick Share now includes a “Share with Apple devices” option that sends photos, videos and files straight to an iPhone, and receives them back, with no extra app to install. Why it matters: this feature began on Google Pixel phones, then reached flagship Galaxy models including the S26, plus the S25 FE and S24 FE.

This month it is expanding to the more affordable Galaxy A series — the Galaxy A55 is now compatible, and A57 and A56 owners have confirmed it working after updating to One UI 9. That means the phones most people actually buy are finally getting the easy cross-platform sharing that used to be a flagship perk.1. Update your phone first.

Open Settings, tap Software update, then Download and install, and get onto One UI 9 — the new option only appears once the update is in.2. Turn on the Apple sharing toggle. Open Quick Share settings and switch on “Share with Apple devices.”3.

Get both phones ready. Keep Wi-Fi and Bluetooth switched on, hold the phones close together, and make sure the iPhone has the feature enabled on its side too.4. Share like normal.

Pick a photo or file, tap Share, choose Quick Share, and tap the Apple device when it appears in the share sheet.5. Have your friend accept. The iPhone owner approves the incoming file, and it lands on their phone — no cables, no email, no messaging app shrinking your pictures.One honest note: the rollout is gradual, so older A models may not see it yet, and both phones need the feature on.Pro tip: Test it with one small photo before sending a big video — a quick trial run confirms everything is talking.Ad’s take: This is the wall between Android and iPhone finally getting a door in it, and I love that it is not just for expensive phones.

The A series is what most folks carry, so that is exactly where this does the most good. Update — Nov 2, 2026: At Android Dev Summit 2026, Google announced a Quick Share SDK coming in the first half of 2027 that will let Android and iOS apps build Quick Share file sharing directly into the app, instead of sending users out to the system Share sheet and the full-screen Quick Share screen. There will also be a Quick Share iOS SDK for iPhone apps.

Nothing changes on your phone today — this is a tool for app makers, not a new setting to switch on. The payoff, if it lands as described, is fewer steps when you send a photo or file from inside an app next year.