Android Beam

Description

Usage

Android Beam is activated by placing devices back to back with the content to be shared displayed on the screen. If the content is able to be sent, the screen will shrink down and display "Tap to Beam" at the top. Tapping the screen sends the content from one device to the other. A sound will play when devices are near and able to beam. When the data has been sent, a confirmation tone will play or a negative tone will play if failed and the content will shrink off the screen indicating beaming is complete. Sharing is one direction and the device sending content will not get content from the receiving device.

Requirements

To activate Android Beam, both devices must support NFC (Near field communication) and have it enabled in addition to passing the lock-screen or logging in.

4.1 Jelly Bean update

As of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, devices can use Android Beam to send photos and videos over Bluetooth. Android Beam uses NFC to enable Bluetooth on both devices, instantly pair them, and disable Bluetooth once complete automatically on both devices. This only works between Android devices version 4.1 and above.

Application support

For beaming of specific content, an app is allowed to control the content being sent when adding Android Beam support. If the app does not specify data, beaming the app will open it on the receiving device. If the receiving device does not have the app, it will open the application page in the Play Store.

S Beam

S Beam refers to an extension of Android Beam by Samsung, first used on their Galaxy S III phones. It uses the near-field communication to establish a Wi-Fi Direct connection between two devices for the data transfer, instead of a Bluetooth connection. This results in faster transfer speeds between devices which feature S Beam. S Beam is limited to select Samsung devices with S Beam support, such as the Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung Galaxy S4.

References

Catgeory:Products introduced in 2011

References

1. "Google announces NFC-based Android Beam for sharing between phones (video)" Engadget. Oct 18, 2011. https://www.engadget.com/2011/10/18/google-announces-nfc-based-android-beam-for-sharing-between-phon/ Accessed Jan 13, 2013.
2. Raphael, JR. (2017-12-05). "Android nostalgia: 13 once-trumpeted features that quietly faded away". Computerworld.
3. Swider, Matt. (2019-05-08). "Android Q won't have Android Beam". Future US.
4. Rahman, Mishaal. (2019-01-05). "[Update 2: Not Coming Back] Google is deprecating the Android Beam API used to share files with NFC". KC Online Media.
5. "Android Beam deprecation". developer.android.com.
6. Cantisano, Timi. (2022-09-02). "Android Beam will be removed permanently with the release of Android 14".
7. (2020-08-04). "Instantly share files with people around you with Nearby Share".
8. "Samsung's S Beam teaches Android a new trick." CNet. June 20, 2012. http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-57455744-251/samsungs-s-beam-teaches-android-a-new-trick/ Accessed Jan 13, 2013
9. "What is S Beam in Samsung Smartphones? {{!}} Samsung Support India".
10. "Transferring files using S Beam - Device Guides: Samsung Galaxy S4".