AirDrop is an ad-hoc services in Apple Inc’s OS X and iOS operating systems, introduced in Mac OS X Lion (OS X 10.7) and iOS 7 that enables the transfer photos, videos and other supported documents to anyone close to who is using a supported iOS device or Mac. without using mail or a mass storage device.AirDrop makes file sharing a lot easier, specially for families with a lot of Apple products.OS X Yosemite and iOS 8 use different AirDrop protocols and are not interoperable with pre-release versions of Yosemite.The Yosemite released version (version 10.10) of OS X is compatible with previous versions of AirDrop.

AirDrop uses Bluetooth to create a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi network between the devices. Each device creates a firewall around the connection and files are sent encrypted, which really makes it safer than transferring via email.There is no limit on the size of the document that AirDrop will accommodate. Apple users report AirDrop transmissions of video documents larger than 10 GB. AirDrop will automatically detect nearby supported devices require ten-meter proximity to detect one another making it possible to share files.

AirDrop Requirements:

In order to use AirDrop, you need:

IOS 7 or higher

• An iPhone 5 or newer, a 5th generation iPod touch or newer, an iPad mini, or 4th generation iPad or newer
• Another iOS user with an AirDrop-compatible device
• A person you want to share content with who is a handful feet from you. AirDrop only works when you’re in around the same place as another user (the same room, apartment, office, etc.);it doesn’t work over the Internet if you’re in different cities, for instance

Macs that include AirDrop support the models listed below:

Running Mac OS X Lion (10.7) or later:

• MacBook Pro (Late 2008 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer)
• MacBook (Late 2008 or newer)
• iMac (Early 2009 or newer)
• Mac Mini (Mid 2010 or newer)
• Mac Pro (Early 2009 with AirPort Extreme card, or Mid 2010)

The MacBook Pro (17-Inch Late 2008) and the white MacBook (Late 2008) do not support AirDrop.

AirDrop makes sharing content faster and easier than ever before on iOS by eliminating a lot of the extra steps on both the sending and receiving side of sharing.