What Happens When You "Bump" an iPhone?

Author

Peter Oram
July 15, 2025

When two iPhones—or even Apple Watches (Series 7+, SE 2nd gen, Ultra)—come into close proximity, a feature called NameDrop (part of AirDrop from iOS 17 / watchOS 10) automatically kicks in, prompting you to share your contact card.

You’ll see two options:

  • Receive Only — Accept the other device’s contact card without sending yours.

  • Share — Exchange contact cards both ways (yes, even if it only shows a phone number on-screen)

But “contact card” can include more than just a phone number—your full profile from the Contacts app (email, address, birthday, relationships, etc.) may be shared unless you customize what’s shared.

🔍 How to Restrict What You Share

  1. Tap the small gray arrow next to the displayed phone number during a NameDrop session.

  2. A menu appears letting you deselect individual fields—like email or home address—that you don’t want shared.

  3. These selections, however, are temporary—you’ll need to adjust them each time you use NameDrop.

That one-time tweak behavior isn’t obvious—Apple hides it behind a tiny arrow, but it gives control over what gets shared each session.

🚨 Security & Privacy Overview

  • NameDrop requires your unlocked phone and active consent. Nothing is shared unless you tap a choice. Pull your phone away or lock it, and the transfer cancels.

  • Still, there’s a risk: if someone else taps a button for you (while you're distracted or your phone is unlocked but unattended), they could receive your full contact card.

✅ How to Turn It Off

If you'd rather disable NameDrop entirely:

  1. Open Settings → General → AirDrop

  2. Toggle Bring Devices Together (i.e., NameDrop) to Off

This disables the bump feature but keeps AirDrop working normally for files.

TL;DR

  • NameDrop is a proximity-based contact exchange option in iOS 17/watchOS 10.

  • You can choose Receive Only or Share, and optionally deselect fields via the drop-down arrow.

  • These sharing tweaks are session-specific and need reselecting each time.

  • NameDrop is safe by design—requires unlocked device and active choice.

  • Prefer not to use it? Just switch it off in Settings.

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Until next time — stay private, stay safe.

— Peter Oram
Chief Cyber Safety Officer

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