AirDrop

AirDrop Remover nixes the AirDrop button from iOS Share Sheets

AirDrop is a very convenient way to send and receive files between iOS devices and Macs; on the other hand, not everyone uses it. While you can easily disable AirDrop, the feature still clutters your interfaces whether it’s disabled or not.

Those with a jailbreak can hide AirDrop from their device entirely, and a new free jailbreak tweak called AirDrop Disabler by Justin Petkovic aides in this process by removing AirDrop from your Share Sheets.

How and where to share faster with AirDrop

In the absence of reliable figures from Apple, it is not much more than conjecture to say that AirDrop is likely a feature often neglected by the average iOS user. The gut feeling persists though, simply based on day to day observations, and it is a tenable position to take until proven wrong by Cupertino or another reputable source. The file transfer protocol is indeed handy for the transfer of heavier media files (e.g. videos, photo albums), but often only becomes relevant to us when we for example have upgraded to a new device.

Next to sheer transmission speed however, there are other notable areas where AirDrop has the clear edge when it comes to sharing all kinds of material from your iPhone. The AirDrop icon has now fully permeated the sharing tab in iOS 10’s user interface and that is for a good reason: it is without fail going to be more nimble than iMessage, Mail or other contenders, often actually skipping steps that would throttle the process elsewhere. Such being the case, here are some unique scenarios where AirDrop excels on your iPhone and why you should try to embrace the feature more regularly.

How to enable AirDrop file transfers between unsupported Macs and over Ethernet

The AirDrop file transfer protocol, introduced with Mac OS X Lion and iOS 7, is a fast and convenient way to transfer files between Apple devices. The current version of the service is interoperable between iOS and macOS, but requires both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to be active in order to work. It also requires Mac OS X Yosemite or newer and a hardware model from 2012 or later.

However, the version of AirDrop that shipped as standard with OS X between 10.7 (Lion) and 10.9 (Mavericks), whilst unable to send files to iOS devices, works without Bluetooth and on Mac models going back as far as 2008. Luckily, alongside the newer version, this legacy mode is still included on all Mac models to date, and as this guide will show, can be modified to have an even broader functionality.

AirDrop not working? Try these troubleshooting tips

AirDrop, a peer-to-peer technology for wireless content exchange across iOS and OS X devices, is universally panned as one of those features that don’t “just work”.

But things are not that simple. As it turns out, more often than not AirDrop issues that people encounter can be resolved quite easily. That’s why you shouldn’t give up on AirDrop yet in case it’s acting up. There’s most likely a good explanation, and an easy solution, for the AirDrop hiccups you’ve been experiencing.

AirDrop can save you a ton of time so here’s hoping that our troubleshooting tips will persuade you to give this really, really cool feature another chance. If AirDrop is not working properly for you, read on to find out how you can do some basic troubleshooting.