DropLink AirDrop
AirDrop is Apple's instant file sharing — but only within the Apple ecosystem. DropLink delivers the same experience on Mac, Windows and iPhone, with end-to-end encryption and the ability to transfer files over the internet.
Quick answer
DropLink is the cross-platform equivalent of AirDrop, but it works between Mac, Windows, iPhone and any browser. It uses QUIC (RFC 9000) with TLS 1.3 and BBR congestion control on local networks, typically reaching 50+ MB/s on a modern Wi-Fi 5/6 router. When devices are on different networks, it falls back to iroh P2P with NAT traversal and, if direct P2P fails, to a DERP relay — all end-to-end encrypted. AirDrop remains Apple-only and uses Bluetooth discovery + Wi-Fi Direct; DropLink uses mDNS/Bonjour + QUIC over standard Wi-Fi, so it works on any network, including hotel and office Wi-Fi (with AP-isolation detection).
Feature matrix
| Feature | DropLink | AirDrop |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-platform (Mac + Windows) | ||
| iOS support | Coming soon | |
| Transfer over internet | ||
| Works between Mac and Windows | ||
| End-to-end encryption | ||
| No Apple ID required | ||
| Web UI — receive via browser | ||
| QUIC transport | ||
| Auto-discovery on LAN | ||
| Password protection | ||
| Open protocol | ||
| Price | Free | Free |
Should you switch to DropLink?
If you live entirely inside the Apple ecosystem, AirDrop remains a good default. For everyone else — and especially if you share files with Windows users — DropLink offers a superset of AirDrop's features with cross-platform support and internet transfer.
Common questions
Can DropLink replace AirDrop?
Yes, and it goes further. DropLink offers the same instant LAN transfer as AirDrop but also works between Mac, Windows and iPhone — AirDrop only works within the Apple ecosystem. DropLink also supports internet transfers with NAT traversal.
Is DropLink as fast as AirDrop?
On LAN, DropLink uses QUIC which is equally fast or faster than AirDrop in most scenarios. QUIC uses UDP with BBR congestion control, avoiding TCP head-of-line blocking. Real-world speeds depend on your network.
Does DropLink work without Wi-Fi like AirDrop?
DropLink requires a network — either a Wi-Fi LAN, Ethernet, or the internet. Unlike AirDrop, it does not use Bluetooth discovery. However, it works on any Wi-Fi network (including hotspots and mesh networks) and falls back to internet P2P when devices are remote.
How DropLink replaces AirDrop under the hood
Transport: QUIC over UDP with BBR congestion control
DropLink uses QUIC (implemented via the quinn 0.11 library) over UDP for LAN transfers. QUIC offers stream multiplexing, built-in TLS 1.3 encryption, and much lower latency than TCP: handshake is 1 RTT (0-RTT with session tickets) vs 2-3 RTT for TCP+TLS, and there is no head-of-line blocking. LAN config uses 8 MB UDP socket buffers, initial MTU 1472 with 1200 fallback, 64 MB stream receive window, BBR congestion control with 1 MB initial window (ramp-up in ~10 RTT / ~20 ms on LAN), and ACK frequency reduced to every 10 packets or 5 ms. AirDrop uses Bluetooth for discovery and Apple Wireless Direct Link (AWDL) for transfer — efficient on Apple devices but incompatible with everything else.
Discovery: mDNS/Bonjour with TOFU fingerprint
DropLink discovers nearby devices via mDNS (Multicast DNS) on the service type _droplink._udp.local. — the same standard used by Bonjour on macOS. Each device publishes its QUIC certificate fingerprint (SHA-256) in the mDNS TXT record (cert_fp). On first connection, the client verifies the fingerprint against the one announced via mDNS (Trust On First Use). This prevents MITM attacks on local networks without requiring a traditional CA. AirDrop also uses mDNS internally but wraps it in Apple-proprietary protocols.
Cross-platform by design
macOS uses SwiftUI with an XPC service embedding the Rust core. Windows uses Tauri 2 with Vue, also embedding the same Rust core. iOS (in Apple review) uses SwiftUI with direct FFI. Browsers use an embedded Web UI served by a local HTTP server on port 7878 (macOS) or 8080 (iOS). The same Rust core drives all platforms, so feature parity and protocol compatibility are guaranteed.
Works outside the Apple ecosystem
For internet transfers DropLink uses iroh 0.96 with custom RelayMode (only the DropLink-operated relay) — iroh's public DNS discovery is explicitly disabled for privacy. NAT hole-punching is attempted first; if it fails, traffic flows through a DERP (Designated Encrypted Relay for Packets) relay, still end-to-end encrypted. AirDrop has no internet mode: if you are not on the same local network, it simply does not work.
Is it as secure as AirDrop?
Yes — and in some ways more transparent. Local transfers use TLS 1.3 (TLS 1.2 is explicitly rejected) with self-signed ECDSA P-256 certificates verified via mDNS fingerprint (TOFU). Cipher suites are ordered per architecture: AES-NI on x86_64 (AES-128-GCM first), ChaCha20-Poly1305 on ARM/Apple Silicon — best performance on each CPU. Session resumption uses 8 pre-generated TLS 1.3 tickets with 0-RTT early data. Remote transfers use iroh, which wraps QUIC in the Noise Protocol Framework (IK handshake) with ed25519 device identity and curve25519 key exchange. File integrity is verified end-to-end with BLAKE3 hash tree via Bao tree incremental verification — so even the relay server cannot tamper with the bytes. AirDrop uses TLS and Apple's internal key exchange; it is secure but closed, so the details are not independently auditable.
How fast is it compared to AirDrop?
- Typical LAN speed
- 50+ MB/s
- Initial handshake
- 1 RTT
- Handshake on resume
- 0 RTT
- Initial congestion window
- 1 MB
- UDP socket buffer
- 8 MB send / 8 MB recv
- Stream receive window
- 64 MB
- Concurrent transfers
- 5 downloads / 3 uploads
- App install size
- < 50 MB
- Idle timeout
- 30 s with 5 s keepalive
Technical FAQ
What encryption does DropLink use instead of AirDrop's?
On local networks DropLink uses TLS 1.3 over QUIC with ECDSA P-256 self-signed certificates and TOFU fingerprint verification via mDNS TXT records. Cipher suites are reordered per CPU: AES-GCM on Intel/AMD (AES-NI), ChaCha20-Poly1305 on Apple Silicon and ARM. For internet transfers it uses iroh, which combines the Noise protocol (IK handshake) with ed25519 identity and curve25519 key exchange, all inside QUIC/TLS 1.3.
Does DropLink need an Apple ID or account?
No. DropLink never asks for an account, email or phone number. Each install generates a local ed25519 keypair stored in the macOS/iOS Keychain (or on disk as a fallback on Windows). That keypair is the only identity.
Can Windows receive an AirDrop? What does DropLink do instead?
Windows cannot receive AirDrop: Apple has never released AirDrop for Windows. DropLink provides the same user experience on Windows via a native Tauri app (same Rust core as macOS) and also exposes a local Web UI, so even a Windows device without DropLink installed can receive files from a browser.
How does DropLink handle Wi-Fi networks that block device-to-device traffic?
Many hotel, cafe and office networks use AP isolation, which blocks direct communication between devices on the same Wi-Fi. DropLink detects AP isolation automatically: it probes TCP ports (1, 80, 443, 53) against IPs in the same /24 subnet and, if nothing is reachable while the internet is, it transparently falls back to internet P2P via iroh — the same device appears in a different section of the UI. AirDrop simply stops working in these scenarios.
How is file integrity verified during transfer?
For internet transfers, every file is identified by its BLAKE3 hash. During download the client verifies integrity chunk-by-chunk using a Bao tree (Binary All-Or-Nothing) — this is called 'verified streaming'. Even if the DERP relay were malicious, it cannot alter bytes without detection. For LAN transfers the TLS 1.3 channel already provides integrity (AEAD).
Does DropLink publish my IP on any public directory like iroh's default DNS?
No. iroh includes a pkarr-based DNS discovery that publishes each node's IP and relay URL to public DNS servers. DropLink disables this entirely: Endpoint is built with empty_builder() and RelayMode::Custom pointing only to the DropLink-operated relay. Your device's IP is only known to the relay during active sharing.