Why is AirDrop not working from iPad to iPhone?

What could be causing Airdrop to suddenly only work from iPad to iPhone, but the phone can't even see the iPad when in the same Wifi net? Both devices have exactly the same Airdrop settings, e.g. the Airdrop allowed to contacts, and in both devices wifi and bluetooth are on.

In addition, the devices are very close to each other.



[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPhone 13 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Apr 8, 2025 11:36 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 19, 2025 9:50 AM

countrylizzard wrote:

Yes this is a issue in ios 18.4.1

iOS 18.4.1 had not even been released when the OP posted their issue.


Since the issue has been isolated to the iPhone, I would further recommend:


9 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 19, 2025 9:50 AM in response to countrylizzard

countrylizzard wrote:

Yes this is a issue in ios 18.4.1

iOS 18.4.1 had not even been released when the OP posted their issue.


Since the issue has been isolated to the iPhone, I would further recommend:


Apr 22, 2025 7:53 AM in response to AarneA

AarneA wrote:

PROBLEM SOLVED.
I had forgotten to turn the VPN off after visiting an unsafe public WiFi.
Funny though that VPN prevents you from accessing your other devices via your home WiFi, even when they are connected to the same account.

Good Job! Yes, a VPN is a common problem for most network issues. I do understand the use on an unsafe public WiFi and to act as a "tunnel" when connecting to enterprise networks in a work or school environment, but other than that they are more of a security risk than anything else.


Not sure why it was suggested this is a problem with iOS 18.4.1, you would see the same thing on any OS version.

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Why is AirDrop not working from iPad to iPhone?

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