What You Can Share

Here are some examples of what you can share with a Share sheet:

• Webpages in Safari and other browsers

• Images in the Photos app

• Locations in Maps

• Email attachments from Mail

• Files from the Files app

• Apple Music songs from Music

• Almost anything else, so long as the developer has included Share sheet capabilities and you’ve enabled the extension—see Edit Share Sheets later in the chapter

Share sheets often conflate the idea of sharing with actions like copying and printing. For example, pull up the Share sheet in a note to reveal options to copy and print that note.

It’s worth checking the Share sheet in each app to see what you can do!

Where You Can Share To

Where can you send things from a Share sheet? Here are some examples:

• Messaging apps like Messages, Mail, and Slack. I use this often to share webpages with friends.

• Text editing apps like Notes. You can share an image to insert it in the note or a URL to add a link.

• Social networks like Facebook and Twitter. (You’ll have to install those apps and enable their Share sheet buttons—see Edit Share Sheets, ahead.)

• Books, which can hold various PDFs you find around the web and elsewhere. (Tap the Copy to Books button, if available.)

• The Files app, which can contain just about any file you find on the web or elsewhere. See Use the Files App.

• Other Apple devices in your vicinity via AirDrop. See About Continuity and AirDrop.

• Any app or service provided by a third-party extension.

Share from the Photos App

Sharing photos and videos from the Photos app works a little differently than it does in most apps:

1. Select the photo or video you want to share.

2. Tap the Share icon.

3. Tap any additional photos and videos that you want to share. A checkmark appears next to selected items (Figure 41).

   

4. Tap the Share sheet extension you want to use, such as Messages, Mail, or iCloud Photo Sharing.

There are a few unique sharing options in the Photos app:

• AirPlay: This broadcasts your photos and videos to an Apple TV without mirroring the entire screen. See my book Take Control of Apple TV for an in-depth look at AirPlay.

• iCloud Photo Sharing: See iCloud Photo Sharing.

• Slideshow: Display the selected photos in a slideshow.

• Use as Wallpaper: Tap this to use the selected photo as the wallpaper of your Lock or Home screen.

See Get to Know Photos for more on managing your photos in iOS.

Create PDF

The Share sheet often hides special functions that aren’t necessarily related to sharing, and I note some of those throughout this book. For example, there’s one terrific feature that you can find in many apps’ Share sheets: Create PDF, which creates a PDF copy of what you’re looking at and lets you annotate it. It’s available in Books, Notes, Photos, Safari, and possibly more apps by the time you read this.

Tap Create PDF and whatever you’re viewing is opened up as a PDF that you can modify. There are three main controls here:

• Tap Done to delete the PDF or save it to the Files app.

• Tap the Share icon to see the usual sharing items, as well as the option to save to the Files app.

• Tap the Markup button to see markup options.

  The basic markup tools are pretty intuitive: fine-point marker, chisel-point marker, pencil, eraser, selection tool, and color selection. Tap the plus button to reveal more options (Figure 42):

  • Text: Tap Text to insert text, which you can adjust with the text settings icon.

  • Signature: Tap Signature to insert a signature, either synced from Preview or Mail on the Mac, or one you draw on screen.

  

  • Magnifier: Tap Magnifier to insert a magnifying loupe to highlight small elements. Drag the green drag handle around the loupe to adjust the magnification. Tap the shape icon to adjust the magnifier outline.

  • Square, circle, speech balloon, line tool: Tap the square, circle, speech balloon, or line tool to insert those shapes.