Android's 'Nearby Share' feature will soon let users share app with peers

After introducing its file transferring feature Nearby Share in August, for all devices running Android 6 or a later build, tech giant Google on Friday announced that the novel addition will soon let users share apps listed on the Google Play Store.

According to Mashable, as was the case with regular files, the user does not need an internet or Wi-Fi connection to send an app to another Android device. The feature will be added via an update that will start rolling out in the coming weeks.

"An upcoming update to Nearby Share will let you share apps from Google Play with the people around you with an Android phone, even if you don't have a cell or Wi-Fi connection.," the company said in a blog post.

ALSO READ: How to set images from Google Photos as a live wallpaper on Android

As reported by Mashable, in order to share an app with another user, one has to open the Google Play Store app, go to 'My Apps & Games' menu by tapping on the hamburger menu in the top left corner, and select the 'Share Apps' option. From there, a user can pick the apps that one wants to share with someone.

As of now, the Google Play app does not have a 'Share Apps' option, and if a user opens the 'My Apps & Games' section while offline, it shows a 'You're offline' error message, instead of the library of apps installed on the phones.

One of the best features to come out of the company's mobile OS lately, 'Nearby Share' is quite easy to use as well. Google has planned to bring the 'Nearby Sharing' feature to Chromebooks as well.

ALSO READ: Google rolls out 6 new features for Android smartphones

However, it is unclear how long it will take for the feature to enable app sharing between an Android smartphone and a Chromebook, especially considering the fact that 'Nearby Share' was still a work in progress for Chrome OS months after it went live on smartphones.