Google is working on an option to share Wi-Fi passwords on Chromebooks using Nearby Share. The Mountain View company is always looking to improve its nearby file sharing service.
Nearby Share // Source: Google
Nearby Share, the equivalent of AirDrop in the Google ecosystem, continues to grow. This nearby sharing feature was presented last year by Google, which has been working hard to make this function more complete. The firm is also working on a function Self Share allowing you to easily send files between your different devices, after adding a group sharing option.
Connect to Wi-Fi faster with Nearby Share
Nearby Share (“Nearby Sharing» in French) allows you to quickly send all types of files to nearby devices. These are currently Android smartphones as well as Chromebooks.
The password sharing feature in question will allow a user to send the Wi-Fi key and related information to another device, namely a computer running Chrome OS. This will send the source device to the receiver device with the necessary Wi-Fi credentials, such as network SSID, security type (WPA 2 or 3), and Wi-Fi password.
This sharing option in development was spotted by Chrome Story on the Chromium gerrit. For the moment, the development is focused on the ability of Chrome OS to receive this information, and not yet to send it. Eventually, we imagine that the sharing of the password will be done quickly between all the devices and that it will therefore become much easier to provide the Wi-Fi key of its network to a passing friend, or to configure a new Chromebooks.
The feature is still in its very early stages of development, so it’s impossible to know exactly when it will be rolled out in a stable fashion.
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