iOS 26.2 arrived last month, packing a bunch of brand new features, including an enhancement to AirDrop called ‘AirDrop codes.’ Here’s how the new feature works.
AirDrop codes enable quick, easy sharing with users not in your contacts
AirDrop has long been a highly popular iPhone feature, offering an easy way to share photos, files, and more with friends and family.
But in iOS 26.2, there’s a new AirDrop enhancement available: “codes.”
Here are the details from Apple’s official release notes:
AirDrop codes offer an additional layer of verification when using AirDrop with unknown contacts by providing a code on the receiver’s device that the sender must enter to complete the transfer
When configuring AirDrop on your iPhone, Apple provides three options:
- Receiving Off
- Contacts Only
- Everyone for 10 Minutes
But AirDrop codes in iOS 26.2 offer what’s essentially a fourth option.
Now, if there’s someone you want to use AirDrop with who isn’t in your contacts, you can temporarily “authorize” each other via this new one-time code.
After the AirDrop sender enters that code, they and the receiver will be able to see each other as AirDrop options for 30 days.
Inside Settings ⇾ General ⇾ AirDrop, you can manage this list of AirDrop contacts. Apple says: “You will automatically appear for 30 days to people you have shared a one-time code with.”
How often do you want to AirDrop someone multiple times without adding them to your contacts? Perhaps Apple believes it’s a frequent occurrence. But perhaps the greater utility of AirDrop codes is that they’re simpler and faster to use than any existing option.
‘Everyone for 10 Minutes’ loosens security significantly, and ‘Contacts Only’ can be cumbersome, since creating a contact might take a minute. But using an AirDrop code is quick, easy, and provides up to 30 days of ongoing AirDrop authorization.
Have you uses AirDrop codes yet in iOS 26.2? Let us know in the comments.
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