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Can’t AirDrop from iPhone to iPhone.

Since iOS9 to iOS13 from iPhone 4 to iPhone 11. Just can’t AirDrop from/to spouse’s iPhone. Just to clarify both phones (phone “a” and phone “b”) CAN:


AirDrop to/from other friends and family members.


iPhone A can AirDrop to iPhone B but not in the reverse. This has been true since iPhone4, to our latest iPhone 11. We just can’t figure it out. No problems with either AirDropping to a mutual friend or any other family member in or outside of our family of iPhones. we have separate signons. Each unique email addresses, our iPads work fine. Just our phones.


It’s the most cryptic, illogical thing ever.





iPhone 11

Posted on Nov 5, 2019 11:53 AM

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Posted on Nov 5, 2019 6:23 PM

Thanks Lawerence. I was finally able to get this working via Apple's escalated high level phone support (solution below). Just to be clear, both phones were set to "everyone". Both phones can AirDrop to/from everyone else and other devices. Only one phone will refuse to see the other specific phone. It's a strange inconvenience we've just lived with. Usually just bouncing around by AirDropping between a third person or just using iMessage. But it's always perplexed us as to why both phones work perfectly with everyone else and each other EXCEPT for one direction (phone "b" to phone "a"). Phone "b" is just mysteriously invisible *just* to phone "a".


Solution: The problem appears to be a bug in the contact list. Deleting the contact of the "invisible" phone user and re-adding them did the trick. Even though both phones were set to "Everyone"; something in the contact list caused the user to be specifically "blocked". After over half a decade of this not working, it works! Who knew? Apple apparently!

2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Nov 5, 2019 6:23 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Thanks Lawerence. I was finally able to get this working via Apple's escalated high level phone support (solution below). Just to be clear, both phones were set to "everyone". Both phones can AirDrop to/from everyone else and other devices. Only one phone will refuse to see the other specific phone. It's a strange inconvenience we've just lived with. Usually just bouncing around by AirDropping between a third person or just using iMessage. But it's always perplexed us as to why both phones work perfectly with everyone else and each other EXCEPT for one direction (phone "b" to phone "a"). Phone "b" is just mysteriously invisible *just* to phone "a".


Solution: The problem appears to be a bug in the contact list. Deleting the contact of the "invisible" phone user and re-adding them did the trick. Even though both phones were set to "Everyone"; something in the contact list caused the user to be specifically "blocked". After over half a decade of this not working, it works! Who knew? Apple apparently!

Can’t AirDrop from iPhone to iPhone.

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