Nearby Share is getting a new name which raises an interesting question

It seems like Google is planning to change the name of its Nearby Share service. As many of you know, Nearby Share comes pre-installed on Android devices, and it can be used for sending and receiving files via Wi-Fi. Think of it as AirDrop for Android.

Nearby Share is getting a new name, and the choice here makes us wonder…

This information comes from kamila, a tipster. After the tipster installed the latest beta update to Google Play services (version 23.50.13), the change occurred. Nearby Share got a new name, Quick Share.

The tipster even got a notification to let him know the change happened, as you can see in the gallery below. Along with a new name, a new icon has arrived. That new icon has two arrows pointing at each other, that is also shown in the gallery below.

Other than the name change, and the icon change, everything else seems to be the same. We have no idea why Google opted to change the name of Nearby Share. It has been in use for 3 years, and it’s a perfectly fine name.

‘Quick Share’ is also the name of Samsung’s file-sharing service

That being said, what’s interesting here is that ‘Quick Share’ is also the name of Samsung’s file-sharing software which comes pre-installed on Galaxy phones. Was this change intentional?

Google has to be aware that Samsung is using the same name. So, why this change? Well, it’s possible that Google and Samsung achieved some sort of a deal, and plan to merge their file-sharing services. That’s just a wild guess, though.

The two companies have collaborated closely a number of times in the past, so this wouldn’t be all that surprising. The name of the service is less important, what’s truly important is that it comes pre-installed on Android devices, as it did thus far.

Google will likely address this change once it hits the stable channel. For the time being, this is just a beta change.