AirDrop

SilentAir makes the AirDrop receiving pop-up less intrusive

AirDrop comes in handy when you want to wirelessly send files from one device to another, but the user interface leaves a lot to be desired, especially when receiving large files.

The single most significant complaint is that the intrusive AirDrop receiving pop-up appears on the screen for too long, blocking you from doing anything else until the pop-up vanishes. But a new free jailbreak tweak called SilentAir by iOS developer Muirey03 aims to change that.

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 to change the default AirDrop destination folder on Mac

Change Airdrop Location on Mac

When you send files to your Mac via AirDrop, the received files are automatically saved to the Downloads folder. While this is a logical place for them to go, it's non-configurable and lumps them in with your Mail attachments and Safari downloads.

This approach is not granular enough for some users who may wish to designate a specific folder for AirDrop files to be saved to. Although macOS does not allow this out of the box, it's possible with some straightforward steps.

In this guide, we show you how to change the save location of files you receive via AirDrop on your Mac.

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? Here’s how to fix it

More often than not, AirDrop issues that people encounter can be resolved quite easily. If AirDrop is not working properly for you, read on to find out how you can do some basic troubleshooting. After that, transferring files among your Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, and Mac would be seamless.