Once we need to share something on our Android telephone, there’s a particular menu that pops out from the underside, displaying all of the doable choices. It’s referred to as Android Sharesheet. However if in case you have ever used totally different smartphones / apps, it is best to discover the menu seems to be in another way on them. There’s a motive behind this – Google doesn’t set any requirement or restriction in entrance of builders and OEMs by way of customizing this characteristic.

Android 12 Blocks Third-party Apps From Changing Android Sharesheet

Nonetheless, there’s a technique permitting Android customers to bypass the Android Sharesheet altogether. A kind of third-party apps is named Sharedr. There are different apps as effectively, however the preferred app is the latter. It affords a extra constant and easy UI and likewise permits customers to eliminate Direct Share. Now, it seems Android 12 received’t enable us to make use of third-party sharesheets to switch the Android Sharesheet.

This restriction was discovered by the developer of Sharedr who not too long ago opened a ticket on the AOSP bug tracker. In it, the developer launched that on Android 12, the working system now not reveals the choice for selecting between Sharedr and the Android Sharesheet. As an alternative, it’ll at all times open the Android Sharesheet by default. Initially, he was considering that there’s a bug and Google ought to repair it. However the official reply was that it’s the meant conduct and never a bug. Merely put, on Android 12, Google blocks third-party apps from changing the sharesheet.

We had by no means truly meant to permit apps to switch the share dialog, that Intent is for apps to launch the share dialog. Having the ability to change the share dialog can be turning into more and more not possible — you couldn’t implement the direct share a part of the UI, nor the non-public vs. work profile tabs in R, and so on. That is simply not one thing that’s possible to permit apps to switch.

Actually, not the whole lot as unhealthy as it’s possible you’ll assume. Google nonetheless permits Sharedr and different third-party apps to change into share sheet options. However for this, it’s important to set them because the default everytime you attempt to share one thing. After all, this can have an effect on the method as a result of it provides a further step.

We nonetheless can’t insist that Google will forestall Android OEMs from customizing the Android Sharesheet sooner or later. However it’s fairly doable.