Case study

ESP32Drop: rebuilding AirDrop and AWDL on ESP32-S3

ESP32Drop reimplements Apple Wireless Direct Link and AirDrop on an ESP32-S3 from observed traffic. Its Arduino library and example sketches receive files from, or send a file to, nearby Macs and iPhones over a direct wireless link. The implementation includes AWDL framing and AirDrop transfer components with host tests based partly on captured traffic.

Targets: Protocol
Category: Independent reconstruction cases
Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
Evidence class: C2 code & docs, no demo or download

Stars: 36
Last commit: 2026-09-07
Language: C
License (GitHub): 0BSD

GitHub data as of 2026-11-10

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Evidence

Observed: Code, documentation and a demo observed; no download method found.
Checked: 2026-11-09

How evidence classes are assigned

Requirements & limits

Prerequisites: An ESP32-S3 with PSRAM and an Arduino-compatible toolchain are required.
Testing evidence: The author reports development and testing on an M5Stack StopWatch with m5stack:esp32 core 3.3.8; other boards and core versions have not been tried.
Limits: Receive and send require separate builds, and Contacts Only transfers are unsupported.
License: 0BSD license.

Cite

BibTeX

@misc{esp32drop-case,
  title = {{ESP32Drop: rebuilding AirDrop and AWDL on ESP32-S3}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/s-iwaki-d/ESP32Drop}},
  url = {https://github.com/s-iwaki-d/ESP32Drop},
  urldate = {2026-11-06},
  note = {Awesome REA entry: \url{https://awesomerea.org/resources/esp32drop-case/}}
}

Plain text

ESP32Drop: rebuilding AirDrop and AWDL on ESP32-S3. https://github.com/s-iwaki-d/ESP32Drop (accessed 2026-11-06). Awesome REA entry: https://awesomerea.org/resources/esp32drop-case/

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About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.

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Primary sources

README.md GitHub · s-iwaki-d/ESP32Drop · Revision 92bdc12
LICENSE GitHub · s-iwaki-d/ESP32Drop · Revision 92bdc12