Samsung may be lining up another Quick Share upgrade, and this one looks more interesting than a checkbox in a settings menu. A leaked One UI 9 build suggests Galaxy phones could gain Android’s upcoming Tap to Share feature, letting users move contacts, links, locations, photos, and videos by holding two phones close together.
That would follow Samsung’s recent move to add AirDrop compatibility to Quick Share, a surprisingly practical bridge for mixed-device households. The company seems to be turning Quick Share into a full-blown interoperability layer, which is exactly where Android sharing has needed to go for years.
Tap to Share is built around NFC proximity
Google’s Tap to Share is still in development for Android 17, but the behavior is already taking shape. Two phones are placed screen-up near each other, a glow appears on both displays, and a prompt guides the transfer. It is the kind of low-friction idea that sounds obvious only after someone else builds it.
In a recent leak, a Tap to Share toggle reportedly showed up inside Quick Share settings in One UI 9. If Samsung ships it, the feature should work best on devices with NFC antennas near the top edge, such as the Galaxy S26 series. Phones with rear-mounted antennas should still be able to use it, provided users line the devices up properly.
Samsung is pushing Quick Share beyond Android-only sharing
The timing matters. Quick Share has already become Samsung’s answer to file sharing on Galaxy phones, but the AirDrop compatibility update signaled something bigger: Samsung wants Galaxy devices to play nicely with the rest of the mobile world, not just with other Android phones. Adding Tap to Share would deepen that strategy rather than replacing it.
There is also a familiar industry pattern here. Apple has spent years making proximity sharing feel effortless, while Android has often made users think about menus first and convenience second. If Samsung can bolt Google’s gesture-driven sharing onto Quick Share, it gets to borrow the elegance without waiting for the entire platform to catch up.
Google I/O 2026 is the likely reveal point
Google is expected to show off Tap to Share at Google I/O 2026, scheduled for May 19 to May 20. That would fit the usual Android rhythm: tease the feature, show the UX, then let phone makers decide how much of the plumbing they want to adopt.
One open question remains whether the feature will work with Apple devices, which already have their own proximity-based sharing tricks. If Samsung really is preparing a Quick Share toggle for it now, the company appears to be betting that the next phase of sharing is not about file types or transfer speed. It’s about making the handoff disappear.