Use Share Nearby to Share Android Apps With Your Friends
As an Android user, how do you share apps with other people? You will probably tell them, “Hi, I downloaded [cool app name] awesome. You should play / use it too. ” But Google has introduced a new way to share apps from Google Play, and it will be very useful when (if?) We can communicate in person again someday.
Once you have access to this feature, which is currently rolling out various device options with version 24.0 (or newer) of the Google Play Store app, you will be able to send some apps on your phone directly to friends using your Nearby Share feature on the device. However, there is a caveat; As reported by Android Authority , not all apps are eligible for sharing and this may change at some point.
To check if you have this option, make sure you update the Android operating system and all its applications to the latest versions available (via Settings> System> Advanced> System Update , at least my Pixel). Check your version of the Google Play Store app by going to Settings> Apps & notifications> See all [x] apps> Google Play Store> Advanced and scroll down a bit until you see the version number applications. (Again, these are instructions for my Pixel, so the exact path may differ for your specific Android.)
Then launch Google Play, click on the three-line hamburger icon in the upper left corner and select My Apps & Games . You should now see a new tab at the top: Share . Tap it and you will see this message:
Once you’ve granted the app the required permissions, you can use the Send button to pull apps to nearby phones that have pressed the Receive button and are awaiting transfer. This phone does not require an internet connection to work as Nearby Share works using many different methods (“Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, WebRTC, or Peer-to-Peer Wi-Fi”) to transfer .APK files between two devices.
Once you have selected a device to send apps or when someone has decided to send it to you, you will receive a request with a pairing code. All you have to do is make sure that the four-digit codes on the sending and receiving devices match. They will most likely do this, unless someone near you tries to do the same thing at the same time.