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Quickly swapping contact details feels like a problem that modern-day tech should've solved by now—and indeed it has, though it's not always obvious how to go about sending someone your information.
Maybe you're meeting a client for work or you've just made a new friend at a party. Whatever the scenario, there's no reason to um and ah and fumble around with your phone (or even a pen and paper, if you remember them).
Here then are the instructions you need, whatever the type of phones you and the other person have got. You can get the relationship off to a good start by showing them just how adept you are at sharing data between phones.
iPhone-to-iPhone
In Apple's ideal world, no one would ever use devices made by any other company, and therefore swapping data between Apple gadgets is very straightforward. There's a specific feature for it, called NameDrop, and all of the hard work is done for you.
NameDrop needs AirDrop to be enabled: That's Apple's general wireless data-sharing tech for everything, including contacts. It's enabled by default on iPhones, so it should be on, but you can check by heading to iOS Settings and choosing General and AirDrop. Make sure it's turned on and that Bringing Devices Together is enabled.
All you have to do is hold your unlocked iPhone close to someone else's unlocked iPhone (or Apple Watch), and after a few moments NameDrop is initiated. All you need to do is confirm the contact sharing by tapping on your screen and selecting whether you want it to be a one-way or two-way contact share.
Android-to-Android
Android has a similar feature to AirDrop on Apple devices, and it's called Quick Share. It should be on by default, but you can check by launching Settings: Choose Connected devices and Connection preferences (on Pixel phones) or just Connected devices (on Galaxy phones), then Quick Share.
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Tap Who can share with you, then enable Everyone and check the Only for 10 minutes box. It means Quick Share actions can be initiated with unknown contacts, but the sharing will be turned off after 10 minutes. This should be ample time for you to share a contact card.
Unlike NameDrop, there's no magic touch-your-phones-together action. You need to head into your Contacts app: On Pixels, tap your account picture (top right), then Contacts settings, Your info, the three dots, and then Share. On Galaxy phones, just tap your contact at the top of the list, then Share. You'll then see Quick Share appear as one of the options, and the other person’s Android device should be detected.
Cross-Platform Sharing
(David Nield)
If you're trying to get an iPhone working with an Android phone, you'll notice that AirDrop doesn't work with Android devices, and Quick Share doesn't work with iOS. That means you're going to have to use one of the other sharing options available from your phone, but there are lots of them.
On an iPhone, open the Contacts app on iOS, then tap your name at the top of the contacts list. Choose Share Contact, select the fields in your contact card you want to share (including your number and address), and you'll be given a choice of options for sharing—from email to WhatsApp message to social media.
It's similar on Android: Get to the sharing page for your own contact card as we've described above for Pixel and Galaxy phones, and next to the Quick Share option you'll find alternative methods of sharing that are compatible with iPhones. You can choose text or email, for example, or Bluetooth (which should work with an iPhone, as long as the iPhone owner has the Bluetooth page from the iPhone Settings open).
