page.title=Sharing Files with NFC
page.tags="NfcAdapter","Android Beam","share","file transfer"

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startpage=true


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<h2>Dependencies and prerequisites</h2>
<ul>
  <li>Android 4.1 (API Level 16) or higher</li>
  <li>At least two NFC-enabled Android devices (NFC is not supported in the emulator)</li>
</ul>

<h2>You should also read</h2>
<ul>
  <li>
    <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/data/data-storage.html#filesExternal"
    >Using the External Storage</a>
  </li>
</ul>

</div>
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<p>
    Android allows you to transfer large files between devices using the Android Beam file transfer
    feature. This feature has a simple API and allows users to start the transfer process by simply
    touching devices. In response, Android Beam file transfer automatically copies files from one
    device to the other and notifies the user when it's finished.
</p>
<p>
    While the Android Beam file transfer API handles large amounts of data, the Android Beam NDEF
    transfer API introduced in Android 4.0 (API level 14) handles small amounts of data such as
    URIs or other small messages. In addition, Android Beam is only one of the features available
    in the Android NFC framework, which allows you to read NDEF messages from NFC tags. To learn
    more about Android Beam, see the topic
    <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/connectivity/nfc/nfc.html#p2p"
    >Beaming NDEF Messages to Other Devices</a>. To learn more about the NFC framework, see the
    <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/connectivity/nfc/index.html"
    >Near Field Communication</a> API guide.
</p>
<h2>Lessons</h2>
<dl>
    <dt>
        <b><a href="send-files.html">Sending Files to Another Device</a></b>
    </dt>
    <dd>Learn how to set up your app to send files to another device.</dd>

    <dt>
        <b><a href="receive-files.html">Receiving Files from Another Device</a></b>
    </dt>
    <dd>
        Learn how to set up your app to receive files sent by another device.
    </dd>
</dl>