A new open-source project published on GitHub on 11 October 2026 offers a way for iPhones to send files to Linux laptops over AirDrop, even when the laptop's Wi-Fi hardware is not an Apple part. The project, called omdrop-owl, works as a radio backend for omdrop, an existing tool that handles AirDrop-style transfers on Linux. For owners of non-Apple machines, it could remove a major obstacle to moving photos and documents between phone and computer without cables or cloud accounts.
How the project fits together
AirDrop depends on AWDL, the Apple Wireless Direct Link that carries its traffic over Wi-Fi. According to the project page, omdrop-owl supplies AWDL in userspace through OWL, an open implementation. Once that link exists, omdrop's own receiver and sender run on top of it without modification. The repository describes itself as a sibling of omdrop-awdl, a package built for Broadcom radios, and it connects to omdrop in the same way: through helper programs installed in /usr/lib/omdrop that the omdrop command-line tool and control panel call. The full interface is documented in omdrop's radio-backend notes.
Rather than storing every component, the project reuses several tools from omdrop-awdl that only communicate with the awdl0 interface or with Bluetooth Low Energy. These are fetched at a pinned commit by a staging script, so the repository stays small and builds remain reproducible.
Installation is more involved than a typical package. The build compiles OWL at a pinned commit, applies local patches, and installs the result with root ownership. It also adds a polkit policy for the helper and a NetworkManager rule that keeps the AWDL-related interfaces unmanaged. The backend conflicts with brcmfmac-awdl-dkms, so only one radio backend can be active at a time. Users also need a version of omdrop with radio-backend support, which the project notes has not yet been merged upstream. A probe command in the installed directory reports anything that stands in the way.
Shared and exclusive modes
Shared mode keeps Wi-Fi online
In shared mode, the laptop stays connected to its Wi-Fi network while AirDrop operates. AWDL then shares the access point's channel, which must be 6, 44 or 149. The project explains that an iPhone spends much of its AWDL time on those channels, so the radio does not need to leave the access point. The approach has been tested on a MediaTek MT7925 card. The project reports that shared mode does not work on any Intel card it has tried.
Exclusive mode takes Wi-Fi offline
Intel cards are handled differently. The project says an Intel AX201 passes up no AWDL frames while associated with a network, so the Intel profile uses exclusive mode. Wi-Fi switches off while the machine is visible to other devices, and stopping the service returns the connection to NetworkManager. The temporary network used for this mode runs on channel 6, since the Intel cards tested would not start an ad-hoc cell on 5 GHz. Its beacons are sent every 10 seconds, which the developers found helped a restarted iPhone list the laptop again.
Which cards work and how to add yours
Driver support is defined in a profile file with one line per Wi-Fi driver. The iwlwifi line covers every Intel card, including the AX200, which the project has not tested. Drivers without a line fall back to a default entry that runs only after the user explicitly opts in. The project notes that one card name can cover chips that behave differently, so reports from specific machines, PCI IDs or kernel versions are useful.
To help with testing, the repository includes a script that walks the user through sending a photo in each direction, then watches the Wi-Fi connection for five minutes after teardown and writes a report. Contributors who have a working card are asked to open a pull request adding their driver line and to paste the report summary. The project warns that some other report files contain the router's MAC address, so those should be kept private.
- Find your driver name with the readlink command against your Wi-Fi device.
- Set your access point to channel 6, 44 or 149 before testing shared mode.
- Opt in to untested drivers only if you are prepared to run the test script.
- If a card cannot inject frames while connected, try exclusive mode instead.
Known problems
The project lists several open issues. On the MT7925, deleting a monitor interface while the station is connected can leave the Wi-Fi link reporting a connection while receiving nothing, sometimes within seconds and sometimes after a few minutes. The developers attribute this to an mt76 and firmware bug. Because the radio helper is not allowed to reload the driver, the workaround is to force a reconnect immediately after the interface is removed, which the project says has kept the station healthy in every test so far.
Speed is another limitation. On the MT7925, sending runs at about 490 kB/s, compared with 1.3 MB/s for receiving, because injected frames leave at a fixed pace regardless of the requested rate. Intel cards are slower still and cut off Wi-Fi while visible. In one test cited by the project, a 2.4 MB photo took 17 seconds to arrive from an iPhone and 10.5 seconds to go back. The project also reports that an iPad beside the iPhone connected once and then stopped acknowledging frames, a cause it has not yet identified. Finally, iPhones randomise their AWDL addresses, so the tool cannot recognise a returning peer.
omdrop-owl remains an experimental project with a narrow hardware base and clear rough edges. Its near-term future depends on two things: whether omdrop merges the radio-backend support it needs, and whether enough owners of non-Apple laptops send in test reports to widen the list of working cards. For Linux users who want AirDrop-style sharing without Apple hardware, it is the most detailed route currently published.
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