To save a contact, you won’t even have to type in the number anymore. Google shows how Android phones can exchange contacts via touch – like Apple’s NameDrop.
Exchanging contacts will soon work faster on Android phones. (Source: Freepik)
You are at a trade fair or somewhere else and want to quickly exchange contacts, but you actually have to go. The cell phone can be pulled out quickly, but spelling the name and typing in the number correctly takes a little longer. With a new feature for smartphones with Android, this process will soon only take seconds.
Google’s own version of Apple NameDrop works by connecting two Android phones together. Google internally calls the feature “Gesture Exchange” and “Contact Exchange”, i.e. gesture or contact exchange, as the blog Android Authority writes. This exchange is accompanied by a light animation.
Android cell phones show a light signal, contact exchange doesn’t work yet
With the beta version v25.49.31, the light animation for the exchange should already work. A band of light appears at the top edge and sides of the display, which contracts upwards from the sides and finally disappears above the selfie camera. However, smartphones have not yet exchanged contact.
If Google follows Apple’s NameDrop for iOS devices, a card should automatically appear on the phone when swapped. You should be able to see your contact there, with the option to only receive the other person’s contact or to share your own contact as well. Only when approved will you receive each other’s data that you would like to share: such as your cell phone number, email and a photo. You should then be able to easily save the contact.
This Apple-specific feature is not the only one that is now being adapted for Android. Various manufacturers are gradually offering products that are already known from Apple. Motorola, for example, offers an Android alternative to AirTags and Samsung is rumored to be adopting a component that is supposed to boost charging speeds.