Apple’s next iPhone update is now just days away. Not only does it add new emergency alerts, tailored to your location, but it also brings a major change to AirDrop. This comes just weeks after Google reverse engineered Apple’s technology, enabling Android phones to connect with iPhones over Apple’s protocol for the first ever time.
iOS 26.2 is widely expected to hit iPhones by mid-December, the exact date is yet to be confirmed. The lesson from iOS 26.1 is not to be too precise in predicting the precise date, as the last iPhone update actually turned up later than expected.
There had been speculation of a major security update coming to AirDrop, and that’s now all but certain. “iOS 26.2 beta 3 has revealed the first user-facing evidence of the new feature,” 9to5Mac reports. “Inside the Settings app, the AirDrop menu now includes a new ‘Manage Known AirDrop Contacts’ section.”
This enables you to share a one-time PIN code with another Apple user not in your contacts, and then “automatically appear for 30 days” to facilitate sharing. The beta doesn’t yet enable codes to be generated and used, but it’s there.
“There are already options to turn AirDrop off entirely,” MacRumors explains, “limit AirDrop to contacts only, or turn AirDrop on for everyone for 10 minutes. The code-based option provides a way to create a connection with someone you don’t want to create a contact, while avoiding having to turn AirDrop on for all people nearby.”
On Nov. 20, Google surprised Android and iPhone users — and potentially Apple — by announcing “Android and iPhone users can now share files, starting with the Pixel 10.”
“When it comes to sharing moments between family and friends, what device you have shouldn’t matter,” Google posted, prodding at Apple’s walled garden. “We’ve heard from many people that they want a simpler way to share files between devices.”
The solution is “a way for Quick Share to work with AirDrop. This makes file transfer easier between iPhones and Android devices.” Pre-empting Apple’s likely response, Google said “we built this with security at its core, protecting your data with strong safeguards that were tested by independent security experts.”
There’s even a detailed security blog explaining how this works, describing it as “just the first step in seamless cross-platform sharing, and we welcome the opportunity to work with Apple to enable ‘Contacts Only’ mode in the future.”
It’s unlikely Apple has any interest in doing so. And against that backdrop, Apple’s iOS 26.2 AirDrop change is interesting. Whether it has any immediate impact or leads to further security changes that prevent cross-platform sharing remains to be seen.
