With AirDrop you can share photos, websites, your location and more with people that are nearby with an Apple device. In order to use AirDrop both people will need to have an iOS device running iOS 7 or later or a Mac running Yosemite. iOS devices that work with AirDrop are iPhone 5 or later, iPad (4th generation or later), iPad mini or iPod touch (5th generation or later).
For AirDrop to work you need to have both WiFi and Bluetooth active and I would recommend that you sign into your iCloud account to share with your contacts. On the iOS devices, turning on AirDrop is simple: Just swipe up from the bottom of the screen to get to your Control Center and tap AirDrop. You will have three choices: Off, Contacts only (only people in your Contacts will see you) or Everyone (where all nearby iOS devices using AirDrop can see you). From there using AirDrop is simply a matter of choosing the content you wish to share (photo, video, contact etc.) and choose the Share icon and you will see nearby users available to AirDrop the content to. Your selected user will receive an alert and can accept or decline the content.
On your Mac it is a little different. AirDrop is available from the Finder, the Share menu, and in Open and Save windows. When you choose AirDrop in Yosemite your Mac will look for any nearby devices that are AirDrop ready. This includes other Macs or iOS devices. In the Finder, if you select AirDrop from the Favorites list on the left side of the Finder window, you will see any nearby AirDrop ready devices or Macs. To transfer a file you simply drag that file over the icon of the recipient and they will be notified of the file transfer. From other apps you can use the Share button and simply select the recipient from the Share sheet that appears.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind…First of all, you have to be close. AirDrop is designed to work with nearby devices and 30 feet seems to be the limit but I have noticed that it is best if you are about 10 feet or less apart. Make sure WiFi and Bluetooth are on and if you are using the software firewall you won’t be able to receive files if “block all incoming connections” is checked.
Mail Drop makes even the largest attachments small enough to email. When you are signed into iCloud, you can use Mail Drop with Apple’s Mail client in Yosemite to send large files like videos, Keynote presentations or even a folder of pictures without having to worry that you will clog your server, get bounced mail or simply be rejected by server limitations on file size. You simply drag your attachments, up to 5GB in total size, into your mail message and Mail Drop will take care of it by actually just sending a link. If your recipient is running Apple Mail in Yosemite they will get the attachment seamlessly just as if it were embedded in the message. If your recipient is using another mail client or webmail, they will receive a link to download the attachment. It works similar to Dropbox but is more secure and easier to use.
AirDrop and Mail Drop are great new features that you might want to play around with – it makes sharing so much easier!