OnePlus, Realme join Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo's cross-device file-sharing alliance

Last year, Chinese smartphone manufacturers Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo announced formation of an inter-transfer alliance group which would offer a cross-device file sharing service similar to Apple’s AirDrop. The latest brands joining the alliance are OnePlus, Realme, Black Shark and Meizu.

Each of the four new members of the consortium posted on Chinese website Weibo confirming their decision to work together for the file transfer protocol. 

This new alliance is no surprise as the two sister companies of Oppo— OnePlus and Realme — are under the BBK group. Black Shark too is a Xiaomi sub-brand that focuses primarily on gaming smartphones.

The companies had previously announced that the protocol would require Bluetooth connection for cross-device file-sharing, instead of using a third-party app. These files/folders can be transferred at 20MBps, which is significantly faster than Bluetooth sharing. While doing so, the transfer protocol does not interrupt the existing Wi-FI connection, thus allowing users to continue using Wi-Fi during the file-sharing process.

Google’s own Fast Share is also in the works and is expected to debut with Android 11. It is currently unclear when the Chinese smartphone Peer-to-Peer Transmission Alliance will roll out the stable update for its cross-device file-sharing feature.