| April 24, 2014

It’s an iOS 7 headline feature: AirDrop, a way to shoot things from one phone or tablet to another — wirelessly, instantly, easily, encryptedly, without requiring names, passwords, or settings-up. It’s much faster than emailing or text-messaging, since you don’t have to know (or type) the other guy’s address. It’s available on the iPhone 5 and later.

Note: 

2. Open the item you want to share. Tap the Share button. If your app doesn’t have a Share button, then you can’t use AirDrop.

When the Share sheet appears, within a few seconds, you see something that would have awed the masses in 1975: small circular photos of everyone nearby. (Or at least everyone with iOS 7. Or at least everyone among them who’s open to receiving AirDrop transmissions, as described below.)

Tip: When you send a photo, the top row of the Share sheet shows your other photos and videos so that you can select additional items to go along for the ride. A blue checkmark identifies each item you’ve selected to send.

3. Tap the icon of the person you want to share with. In about a second, a message appears on the recipient’s screen, conveying your offer to transmit something good — and, when it makes sense, showing a picture of it.

Tip: Actually, you can select more than one person’s icon. In that case, you’ll send this item to everyone at once.

At this point, it’s up to your recipients. If they tap Accept, then the transfer begins (and ends); whatever you sent them opens up automatically in the relevant app. You’ll know that AirDrop was successful because the word “Sent” appears on your screen.

If they tap Decline, then you must have misunderstood their willingness to accept your item (or they tapped the wrong button). In that case, you’ll see the word “Declined” on your screen.