Guide #

Installation #

Add share_receiver as a dependency in your pubspec.yaml file:

flutter pub add share_receiver

Configuration #

Android

1. Edit your Android Manifest file, located in android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml and add/uncomment the intent filters and meta data that you want to support:

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <application
        android:label="share_receiver_example"
        android:name="${applicationName}"
        android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher">
        <activity
            android:name=".MainActivity"
            android:exported="true"
            android:launchMode="singleTop"
            android:taskAffinity=""
            android:theme="@style/LaunchTheme"
            android:configChanges="orientation|keyboardHidden|keyboard|screenSize|smallestScreenSize|locale|layoutDirection|fontScale|screenLayout|density|uiMode"
            android:hardwareAccelerated="true"
            android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustResize">
            <!-- ... -->

            <!-- Intent filters for share functionality -->
            <!--TODO: Add this filter if you want to handle shared text-->
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEND" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
                <data android:mimeType="text/*" />
            </intent-filter>

            <!--TODO: Add this filter if you want to handle shared images-->
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEND" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
                <data android:mimeType="image/*" />
            </intent-filter>

            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEND_MULTIPLE" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
                <data android:mimeType="image/*" />
            </intent-filter>

            <!--TODO: Add this filter if you want to handle shared videos-->
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEND" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
                <data android:mimeType="video/*" />
            </intent-filter>
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEND_MULTIPLE" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
                <data android:mimeType="video/*" />
            </intent-filter>

            <!--TODO: Add this filter if you want to handle any type of file-->
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEND" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
                <data android:mimeType="*/*" />
            </intent-filter>
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEND_MULTIPLE" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
                <data android:mimeType="*/*" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
        <!-- ... -->
    </application>
    <!-- ... -->
</manifest>

iOS

1. Edit your iOS Info.plist file, located in ios/Runner/Info.plist. It registers your app to open via a deep link that will be launched from the Share Extension.

<!-- Uncomment below lines if you want to use a custom group id rather than the default. Set it in Build Settings -> User-Defined -->
<!-- <key>AppGroupId</key>
<string>$(CUSTOM_GROUP_ID)</string> -->
<key>CFBundleURLTypes</key>
<array>
    <dict>
        <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
        <string>Editor</string>
        <key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key>
        <array>
            <string>ShareMedia-$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER)</string>
        </array>
    </dict>
</array>

2. Create Share Extension
   • In Xcode, go to the menu and select File -> New -> Target -> choose "Share Extension"
   • Give it the name ShareExtension and save
3. Go to Build Phases of your Runner target and move Embed Foundation Extension to the top of Thin Binary.
4. Make the following edits to ios/ShareExtension/Info.plist

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <!-- Uncomment below lines if you want to use a custom group id rather than the default. Set it in Build Settings -> User-Defined -->
    <!-- <key>AppGroupId</key>
    <string>$(CUSTOM_GROUP_ID)</string> --> 
    <key>NSExtension</key>
    <dict>
        <key>NSExtensionAttributes</key>
        <dict>
            <key>NSExtensionActivationRule</key>
            <!-- The TRUEPREDICATE NSExtensionActivationRule that only works in development mode -->
            <!-- <string>TRUEPREDICATE</string> -->
            <!-- Add a new rule below will allow sharing one or more file of any type, url, or text content, You can modify these rules to your liking for which types of share content, as well as how many your app can handle -->
            <string>SUBQUERY (
                extensionItems,
                $extensionItem,
                SUBQUERY (
                    $extensionItem.attachments,
                    $attachment,
                    (
                        ANY $attachment.registeredTypeIdentifiers UTI-CONFORMS-TO "public.file-url"
                        || ANY $attachment.registeredTypeIdentifiers UTI-CONFORMS-TO "public.image"
                        || ANY $attachment.registeredTypeIdentifiers UTI-CONFORMS-TO "public.text"
                        || ANY $attachment.registeredTypeIdentifiers UTI-CONFORMS-TO "public.movie"
                        || ANY $attachment.registeredTypeIdentifiers UTI-CONFORMS-TO "public.url"
                    )
                ).@count > 0
            ).@count > 0
            </string>
            <key>PHSupportedMediaTypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>Video</string>
                <string>Image</string>
            </array>
        </dict>
        <key>NSExtensionMainStoryboard</key>
        <string>MainInterface</string>
        <key>NSExtensionPointIdentifier</key>
        <string>com.apple.share-services</string>
    </dict>
</dict>
</plist> 

5. Add a group identifier to both the Runner and ShareExtension Targets
   • In Xcode, select Runner -> Targets -> Runner -> Signing & Capabilities
   • Click the '+' button and select App Groups
   • Add a new group (default is your bundle identifier prefixed by group.. ex. group.com.company.app)
   • Repeat those above 3 steps inside of the ShareExtension target adding/selecting the same group id
6. (Optional) If you made a custom group identifier that isn't your bundle identifier prefixed by 'group.', make sure to add a custom build setting variable that is referenced in your ShareExtension's Info.plist file.
   • Go to Targets -> ShareExtension -> Build Settings
   • Click the '+' icon and select Add User-Defined Setting
   • Give it the key CUSTOM_GROUP_ID and the value of the app group identifier that you gave to both targets in the previous step
   • Repeat the above steps for the Runner target
7. If your project use Swift Package Manager please skip this step, Otherwise if use CocoaPods required add the following code inside ios/Podfile within the target 'Runner' do block, and then run pod install inside the ios directory.

target 'Runner' do
  use_frameworks!
  use_modular_headers!

  flutter_install_all_ios_pods File.dirname(File.realpath(__FILE__))

  # share_receiver start
  target 'ShareExtension' do
    inherit! :search_paths
    pod 'share_receiver', :path => '.symlinks/plugins/share_receiver/ios/share_receiver'
  end
  # share_receiver end
end

8. In Xcode, replace the contents of ShareExtension/ShareViewController.swift with the following code. The share extension doesn't launch a UI of its own, instead it serializes the shared content/media and saves it to the groups shared preferences, then opens a deep link into the main app so your flutter/dart code can then read the serialized data and handle it accordingly.

import share_receiver

class ShareViewController: ShareReceiverServiceViewController {}

Example #

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:share_receiver/share_receiver.dart';

void main() {
  runApp(const MyApp());
}

class MyApp extends StatefulWidget {
  const MyApp({super.key});

  @override
  State<MyApp> createState() => _MyAppState();
}

class _MyAppState extends State<MyApp> {
  SharedData? _sharedData;

  @override
  void initState() {
    super.initState();
    _initShareReceiver();
  }

  @override
  void dispose() {
    ShareReceiver.instance.dispose();
    super.dispose();
  }

  Future<void> _initShareReceiver() async {
    // Get initial sharing data (if app was opened via share)
    final initial = await ShareReceiver.instance.getInitialSharing();
    if (initial != null) {
      print('Received initial share data: $initial');
      setState(() => _sharedData = initial);
      // Clear the initial data
      ShareReceiver.instance.clear();
    }

    // Listen for shares while app is running
    ShareReceiver.instance.getMediaStream().listen((data) {
      print('Received share data: $data');
      setState(() => _sharedData = data);
      // Clear the received data
      ShareReceiver.instance.clear();
    });
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      home: Scaffold(
        appBar: AppBar(title: const Text('Share Receiver Example')),
        body: Padding(
          padding: const EdgeInsets.all(16.0),
          child: Center(
            child: Column(
              mainAxisSize: .min,
              spacing: 8.0,
              children: [
                Text('Shared data: ${_sharedData?.toString() ?? 'No data'}'),
              ],
            ),
          ),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

See the example here for runnable project of various usages.

Bugs or Requests #

If you encounter any problems feel free to open an issue. If you feel the library is missing a feature, please raise a ticket on GitHub and I'll look into it. Pull request are also welcome.

See Contributing.md.

Support #

Don't forget to give it a like 👍 or a star ⭐

Activities #