There are times when you will need to share your home or office WiFi password to more than one person. It’s a simple thing but it can get pretty tedious at times. Aside from typing it into their device directly or just announcing it to everyone (which may not be something you should do), over the years, we’ve seen some other ways that Android has made it easier for us to share the password. Now it looks like Android 12 may bring us the easiest way so far with Nearby Share to be used for WiFi password sharing.
According to XDA Developers, Google is currently working on a solution that would make it easier for Android users to share their WiFi password to whomever they want. Well, as long as they’re nearby of course. The new commit submitted to AOSP shows that the “Share WiFi” option will be implemented through a nearby sharing button. The nearby sharing component will then be launched so you can use it for any device that’s within the vicinity of the Nearby Share feature.
This will not require any physical contact or scanning of any sorts, which should make this probably the most convenient way to do so. Currently, you have the option to scan a QR code through the Wi-Fi Easy Connect protocol but it’s still not that convenient as it would involve you holding out your phone to other people or having them scan a printed code. With Nearby Share, it will make it more convenient.
The commit will possibly work with Android 12. And since we’re expecting the Android 12 Developer Preview to first launch next month, they still have a bit of time to be working on this. A merger may also mean that we probably won’t see this feature until the second or third preview so don’t expect to be looking for this when the preview rolls out to those who will be testing out the upcoming Android update.
Of course it’s not the most important new thing we can expect from Android 12. One thing we know is that Google will make it easier to work with third-party app stores on Android devices but without compromising safety measures. As to how that will happen is still a mystery right now.
