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expo-sharing allows you to share files directly with other compatible applications and to receive compatible data shared from other apps.

Sharing limitations on web

• expo-sharing for web is built on top of the Web Share API, which still has very limited browser support. Be sure to check that the API can be used before calling it by using Sharing.isAvailableAsync().
• HTTPS required on web: The Web Share API is only available on web when the page is served over https. Run your app with npx expo start --tunnel to enable it.
• No local file sharing on web: Sharing local files by URI works on Android and iOS, but not on web. You cannot share local files on web by URI — you will need to upload them somewhere and share that URI.

Installation

If you are installing this in an existing React Native app, make sure to install expo in your project.

Configuration in app config

You can configure expo-sharing using its built-in config plugin if you use config plugins in your project (Continuous Native Generation (CNG)). The plugin allows you to configure various properties that cannot be set at runtime and require building a new app binary to take effect. If your app does not use CNG, then you'll need to manually configure the library.

Example app.json with config plugin

The following example shows a configuration that allows sharing a single or multiple images on Android and iOS:

{
  "expo": {
    "plugins": [
      [
        "expo-sharing",
        {
          "ios": {
            "enabled": true,
            "activationRule": {
              "supportsImageWithMaxCount": 5
            }
          },
          "android": {
            "enabled": true,
            "singleShareMimeTypes": ["image/*"],
            "multipleShareMimeTypes": ["image/*"]
          }
        }
      ]
    ]
  }
}

Configurable properties

Sharing to your app from other apps

Note: This functionality is currently experimental. On iOS the share extension opens the main target, instead of processing the share in a sharing ViewController, which is not officially supported by Apple and may stop working in a future iOS release.

When an app user shares content with your app, the operating system launches your app (also known as the process of bringing it to the foreground). To process this action, you need to configure your navigation to handle the incoming deep link.

Expo Router

If you are using Expo Router, you can use the +native-intent.ts file to handle the incoming share intent. This allows you to inspect the incoming path and redirect to a specific route.

import { getSharedPayloads } from 'expo-sharing';

export async function redirectSystemPath({ path, initial }: { path: string; initial: boolean }) {
  try {
    // Check if the URL is from the share extension/intent
    if (new URL(path).hostname === 'expo-sharing') {
      return '/handle-share';
    }
    return path;
  } catch {
    // Fallback to the root path on error
    return '/';
  }
}

React Navigation

If you are using React Navigation, you can use the linking prop to intercept the deep link. You should check if the incoming URL hostname matches the expo-sharing scheme and redirect the user to a specific handler screen.

import * as Linking from 'expo-linking';
import { createStaticNavigation } from '@react-navigation/native';
import { createNativeStackNavigator } from '@react-navigation/native-stack';
import HandleShare from './HandleShare';

const RootStack = createNativeStackNavigator({
  screens: {
    // Other screens
    HandleShare: {
      screen: HandleShare,
      linking: {
        path: '/handle-share',
      },
    },
  },
});

const Navigation = createStaticNavigation(RootStack);

function processUrl(url: string | null) {
  if (!url) return null;

  // The path to your share handler screen
  const handlerUrl = Linking.createURL('/handle-share');

  // Check if the URL is from the share extension/intent
  if (new URL(url).hostname === 'expo-sharing') {
    return handlerUrl;
  }
  return url;
}

export default function App() {
  return (
    <Navigation
      // The rest of your navigation config
      linking={{
        prefixes: [Linking.createURL('/')],
        async getInitialURL() {
          const initialUrl = await Linking.getInitialURL();
          return processUrl(initialUrl);
        },
        subscribe(listener) {
          const linkingSubscription = Linking.addEventListener('url', ({ url }) => {
            const processedUrl = processUrl(url) ?? url;
            listener(processedUrl);
          });

          return () => {
            linkingSubscription.remove();
          };
        },
      }}
    />
  );
}

No navigation library

If you are creating a basic app without a navigation library, your main screen is the handler screen. You can move on to the next section.

Displaying shared content

Once you have redirected the user to a handler screen, you can use the useIncomingShare hook to access and display the shared data.

The following example shows a screen that displays shared images:

import { Image } from 'expo-image';
import { useIncomingShare } from 'expo-sharing';
import { View, StyleSheet, ActivityIndicator } from 'react-native';

export default function ShareReceived() {
  const { resolvedSharedPayloads, isResolving } = useIncomingShare();

  if (isResolving) {
    return (
      <View style={styles.container}>
        <ActivityIndicator size="large" />
      </View>
    );
  }

  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      {resolvedSharedPayloads.map((payload, index) => {
        if (payload.contentType === 'image') {
          return <Image source={{ uri: payload.contentUri }} style={styles.image} key={index} />;
        }
        return null;
      })}
    </View>
  );
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    alignItems: 'center',
    justifyContent: 'center',
    backgroundColor: 'white',
  },
  image: {
    width: 300,
    height: 300,
    marginBottom: 20,
    borderRadius: 10,
  },
});

API

import * as Sharing from 'expo-sharing';

Hooks

Methods

Types