Comment by tech234a

3 days ago

I'm fairly sure the article is wrong.

For example, someone found strings in Google's implementation that mentioned AWDL: https://social.treehouse.systems/@nicolas17/1155847323390351...

Also people have mentioned having success Airdropping to macOS devices, which are not listed as being supported on the Wi-Fi Aware page.

Yeah, people have confirmed it works with iOS 15, so it seems more likely that Google implemented AWDL.

> macOS devices, which are not listed as being supported on the Wi-Fi Aware page.

Not listed, but shipped with some Wifi Aware library

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DeviceToDeviceManager.framework/Plugins/WiFiAwareD2DPlugin.bundle

  • Just `tcpdump -i awdl0` while Airdrop-ing to a Mac to observe it's still using AWDL. (unless the interface named awdl0 is actually using WiFi Aware...)

    Another fun thing to do: `ping6 ff02::1%awdl0`. Pings all nearby Apple devices with AWDL active. Including things like your neighbor's phone that's not even on your local network. (but addresses rotate I believe so can't track persistently)

    • > (but addresses rotate I believe so can't track persistently)

      But maybe you can infer presence tracking the response time? Could be exploited anyway, no?

      1 reply →

Both can still be true. The interop may be motivated by the EU regulator's intention so and to stave off further regulation.