AirDrop No People Found iOS 16 Issue On iPhone, iPad? (Fix!)
AirDrop No People Found iOS 16
Getting the AirDrop no people found error after iOS 16.2 update? ‘There is no one nearby to share with’ although both iPhones or iPads have Bluetooth, WiFi enabled and are configured to AirDrop Everyone? You’re not alone!
AirDrop No People Found iOS 16?
This unexpected behavior has been reported by Sam (iOS 16.2):
“Airdrop stopped working after this update. I’m getting ‘No people found’ all the time although both devices have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled. I even force restarted them both!”
This ‘issue’ is caused by a controversial change that Apple introduced alongside iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2 and macOS 13.1!
Unfortunately, AirDrop Everyone setting isn’t available anymore. It has been replaced by Everyone for 10 Minutes!
How To Fix AirDrop No People Found Issue
To prevent this annoying error you have the following options:
1. Turn On AirDrop For Everyone Manually
It’s not productive, but you have to make the receiving device available to Everyone every time more than 10 minutes pass since your previous transfer:
- 1. Open Control Center (swipe-down from the top-right corner of the screen).
- 2. Touch & hold the Bluetooth icon, to bring up the expanded menu.
- 3. Touch & hold AirDrop.
- 4. Select Everyone for 10 Minutes.
- 5. Perform the AirDrop transfer. Does it work now?
Fact: AirDrop setting will automatically switch back to Contacts only after 10 minutes!
2. Add Owner Of Other Device As Contact
If you plan to exchange files frequently between the two devices, the best way around this is to add the owner of the device as a contact on your iPhone and vice-versa.
This will allow you to exchange data via AirDrop with the new default Contacts only setting!
Have you managed to bypass this new AirDrop limitation on iPhone, iPad and Mac? Do you have a better solution or other questions? Share your feedback in the comments!
Related: For all iOS 16.2 new features as well as issues and workarounds check our extended review available here.
I have an iPhone 12 Pro Max, and this does work. But…i have to do this process, and so does the person, every time I want to send them something. So, this is not a permanent fix. Just temporary.
Does anyone know what a permanent fix is??
The permanent fix is to add that person as a contact…