Can't find nearby devices? Quick Share might soon offer troubleshooting tips (APK teardown)

Quick Share is one of the easiest and fastest ways to transfer large files between Android devices. However, it can be a bit annoying when it is unable to find nearby devices and doesn’t highlight the underlying problem. Thankfully, Google has an improvement in the works that could help you troubleshoot this issue easily.

A teardown of the latest Google Play Services release (version 24.31.33) has revealed an upcoming feature that will help you troubleshoot issues with finding nearby devices. As you can see in the attached screenshots, the feature will appear as a new “Don’t see the right device?” button in the Quick Share settings. Tapping on it will list a few things the recipient can try to make their device visible.

The feature recommends that the recipient unlock their phone, bring it within 3 feet of the sender, enable Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and switch Quick Share’s discoverability to Everyone. These steps may seem fairly basic to seasoned users, but they will surely help those who are new to using Quick Share.

In addition to the troubleshooting feature, we’ve spotted another upcoming change in the Quick Share settings that removes the toggle next to the “Who can share with you” option. We’re not fans of this change, as it adds an unnecessary step to disabling Quick Share discoverability and forces users to open the “Who can share with you” menu to turn off the “Visible to nearby devices” option.

We hope Google does not implement this change, but we’re definitely looking forward to the new troubleshooting feature. We’ll let you know as soon as these changes start rolling out widely.