Can we lock airdropping with Face ID kind of like Apple Pay?

Recently, it came to my knowledge that someone transferred a file from my phone via AirDrop without my knowledge when it was in their position for a very short moment.


Seeing as files on people‘s iPhones might be very sensitive and that Apple already provides a way to lock individual apps and photo albums, as well as requiring authentication for payment, why is there not higher security to prevent someone from maliciously transferring data from your phone without biometric authorization?


There are already so many places where iOS uses FaceTime to authenticate, it doesn’t seem like it will be much trouble to put that same extra layer of security to file transfers.

iPhone 14 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Sep 14, 2025 01:24 PM

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Posted on Sep 14, 2025 02:02 PM

Loaning out an unlocked device opens up far more than AirDrop. Passwords and credentials and accounts can all be compromised, devices can get blocked or permabanned from social media services, harassment, illegal files, enabling stalking or loading stalking apps, there’s a long list of risks.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 14, 2025 02:02 PM in response to Kristopher Wade-Matthews

Loaning out an unlocked device opens up far more than AirDrop. Passwords and credentials and accounts can all be compromised, devices can get blocked or permabanned from social media services, harassment, illegal files, enabling stalking or loading stalking apps, there’s a long list of risks.

Can we lock airdropping with Face ID kind of like Apple Pay?

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