It’s officially Black Friday season – Amazon has launched its sale, deals are popping up at both US and UK retailers, and phone makers themselves are offering great discounts and trade-in offers. In the midst of all of this, Google has announced that the Pixel 10 family will now effectively support AirDrop compatibility with iPhones, with more devices to follow.
Whether this is an intentional gambit to push buyers-to-be towards the latest flagship Pixel series or just kismet timing, this announcement comes at a good time for Google. As well as being the best Pixel phones ever, the Google Pixel 10 series has been a top pick for Black Friday deals so far, with discounts for the base-model Pixel 10, as well as the super-charged Pixel 10 Pro and enlarged Pixel 10 Pro XL.
Dropping the new AirDrop compatibility announcement at such a crucial time for phone sales fits with Google’s strategy for the Pixel 10 family – which seems to have revolved around making the Pixel 10 as compatible with the iPhone as possible while promoting some kind of competitive edge.
At launch, Google keenly highlighted the new PixelSnap feature and accessory line for the Google Pixel 10 family, a magnetic charging and accessory system that both resembles and works with the iPhone’s MagSafe system.
And now, as declared in a publicly unilateral* announcement, the Pixel 10 series gets AirDrop in all but name. But is Google reaching the core of its users’ needs by copying Apple, or simply reaching for forbidden fruit that might forever stay out of reach? (*it’s almost certain that Google had to get Apple’s approval behind-the-scenes, but Cupertino is yet to comment on the new feature).
The fact is, if you asked me for the biggest Google Pixel 10 features, I’d now put PixelSnap, the new 5x telephoto camera, and AirDrop compatibility at the top of the list – of those, only the telephoto camera isn’t an attempt to chase Apple’s tail (instead chasing after Samsung’s iconic triple camera system found on the base Galaxy S25).
There’s little, then, that sets the Pixel 10 apart in a proactive sense – its biggest features feel like reactions to ongoing trends, rather than an attempt to start a new one. Whatever you think of Apple’s Camera Control or Action Button, or even the logic-bending Fusion Camera, the world’s biggest tech company has never been scared of getting a bit weird in the interest of making the iPhone feel distinctive (who remembers 3D Touch?).
If Google gets into too steady a rhythm of offering iPhone emulations as key features, I’m not sure it’ll do great things for the brand’s mobile identity. That would be a shame, because these phones are brimming with character.
And with the iPhone so dominant in the US and Samsung holding a firm lead in terms of Android competitors, I’m not sure Google is best served by leaning into its new identity as “the iPhone, but Android”. Yes, Android is more flexible, and yes, the Pixel 10 has an optically zoomed camera – but the iPhone 17 has a larger sensor for its zoom shots, and a much faster chipset, so it feels like swings and roundabouts between the two.
Let me make it very clear that I think the move to make Android Quick Share interoperable with AirDrop is brilliant, and a decisively pro-consumer move that benefits users on both sides of the aisle. I also have a lot of sympathy for Google for seemingly always having to be the one making things work between Android and iOS, a matter for which Apple seems to have little time.
But at the end of the day, the phone market values innovation and reputation above all else, so with the next generation of Pixel phones – heck, even with the next round of software updates – I want to see some new features that feel independent of the Android-Apple rivalry.
That could come in the form of new hardware; perhaps a super-high refresh rate screen or new AI-linked hardware button, or a refreshed overall design to continue the evolution of the camera bar. Or it could come in the form of software – a shoreing-up of the part-baked AI tools our Pixel 10 review noted, for example.
Again, Google is the by far the more charitable partner in this era of iOS-Android detente, and deserves its flowers as such. But the Pixel series needs to keep hitting headlines on its own accord in order to keep up with the runaway reputation of its Apple adversary.
Today’s best Google Pixel 10 deals
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jamie.richards@futurenet.com (Jamie Richards)
