How to Make Sharing from Your iPhone Work Better for You!

The estimated reading time for this post is 5 minutes

Half the fun of finding something interesting is sharing it with others. As you’re surfing the Web or using apps on your iPhone, you’ll probably want to be sharing.

Whether it’s a cool website, insightful tweet, or even this article, you can share your finds easily using your iPhone. In fact, sharing easier can be easier on your iPhone than on your computer.

The iPhone sharing window gives you lots of options to share and you can add apps for even more ways to share. By taking a few seconds to adjust your settings you can personalize your sharing window and save yourself a lot of time and hassle.

Sharing from the iPhone Using the Sharing Window

When you want to share something, you may copy the link, open a new app, log into your account on the app, paste the link, then share it. You can share with others much more easily on your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch by using the sharing window.

Open the sharing window by tapping the rectangle icon with the up arrow:

[note] If you’re using the Safari app and the sharing icon isn’t shown, tap the top of the screen to reveal the bottom toolbar where you’ll see the sharing icon. [/note]

The sharing window will rise from the bottom of your screen and provide you with these default app options:

Choose which app you want to use to share and a window will open allowing you to share directly from that app without having to leave the app you’re using and open the other app. You can add a message with text, emojis, etc. to your sharing.

After you’re done the sharing window disappears and you’re back on the site you shared. No closing and re-opening apps, copying, or pasting needed when you use the sharing window. If you’re already logged into the app on your phone, you don’t need to log in again when you use the sharing window.

How to Personalize Your Social Sharing on iPhone

Beginning with iOS 8 last fall you can add more apps to the sharing window. To the right of the default sharing apps is a three dot More icon that allows you to add more apps, making sharing even easier.

Tap on the three dot More icon to see which apps you can add to your sharing window. If you don’t see the More icon, swipe the row with Messages, Mail, Twitter and Facebook to the left to reveal the More icon:

Tap the More icon to reveal the Activities menu, providing you additional apps you can use for sharing. Depending on which apps you have on your phone, your sharing options may be extensive.

For example, you can add these apps to your default sharing screen to make sharing to these sites available:

• Pinterest
• Google Plus
• LinkedIn
• Buffer
• Evernote
• Facebook Messenger
• Hootsuite
• Tumblr
• Viber
• DO Note

Slide the button to the left to add an app to your sharing window. When you’ve finished adding apps, press Done in the upper right corner of the Activities menu.

Using Your Customized Sharing Window

You can use the sharing window in Safari, Photos, Twitter and other apps. After you customize your sharing window your changes should be saved and appear in your sharing window in any app that uses the iPhone sharing window.

[note] Some apps such as Facebook, Pinterest and Zite offer their own sharing options and don’t use the iPhone sharing window. [/note]

Using the sharing window can save you time and effort. For example, no longer do you have to copy and paste a web address into your Pinterest app to pin images from that site. Use the sharing window to pin images from a web page you have open in Safari without having to leave Safari and open the Pinterest app.

When you open the sharing window and choose Pinterest you can pick the image and board, then the sharing window will drop down out of site. You’ve just shared to Pinterest without leaving Safari or the website you have open.

Rearranging Your Sharing Icons

You can customize your sharing screen even more by rearranging your app icons. Put the ones you use most where you want them, in the order that works best for you.

To rearrange your sharing app icons, press and hold the one you want to move, then drag it to the position where you want it. Let go and revel in your newly organized sharing window!

You can also rearrange sharing apps by opening the Activities menu and pressing and holding the three stacked lines next to the app you want to move.

Drag and drop the apps into the positions you want them. Tap Done when you’re finished.

How to Hide Sharing Icons

After you add sharing icons, you may find you’re not using them. If you change your mind, you can remove icons from your sharing window easily.

Tap and hold any sharing icon you want to remove until the Hide tag appears. Tap the Hide tag and that icon will be removed from your sharing window. You can always add it back later if you find you miss it.

You can also hide sharing icons by going into the Activities menu and sliding the sharing button off. Then tap Done. You can hide any sharing apps except for Mail and Messages.

Testing the Sharing Window

If you’re reading this article on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch using Safari, try using the sharing window to share this article with others. Go ahead, I won’t mind a bit! Try all of the sharing apps to make sure you’ve perfected your sharing.

You’re very welcome!

Your Thoughts

Did you know you could add apps to your sharing window on the iPhone?Have you taken the time to customize your sharing window? Which apps have you added? Have you tested the sharing window yet? Let us know your thoughts in the Comments section below!