Twitter finally supports native share sheet on iOS

With the significant redesign of Apple’s mobile operating system in iOS 7 in 2013 came a new native interface sheet that has since made for easier sharing from apps that support it. But for some reason, the official iOS app of Twitter, one of the most popular apps on iOS, didn’t support the native share sheet … until now.

At long last, thanks to its latest update, Twitter for iOS now offers sharing options via the aforementioned system, which has long been used by many other apps including popular third-party Twitter clients such as Twitterrific and Tweetbot.

Before the update

Prior to the update, Twitter for iOS employed its own sharing menu. After long-pressing a link or tapping the share icon in the in-app browser, a plain list of options for sharing the link would appear, allowing you to tweet, mail or copy the link, save the link to Pocket, or open the link in Safari. Similarly, long-pressing a photo would bring up a list of options for tweeting or saving the photo.

Twitter’s custom menu does the job for basic sharing actions. But it lacks the flexibility of the Apple-designed and -prescribed share sheet, not to mention the native look and feel thereof.

Good riddance, Twitter’s custom sharing menu.

After the update

Fortunately, you can say goodbye to Twitter’s custom sharing menu and welcome the iOS share sheet to Twitter for iOS. Following its latest update, the app now lets you access the native iOS share sheet after long-pressing a link or tapping the share icon in the in-app browser, or after long-pressing a photo.

This clearly affords a bigger set of options than previously available, as the native iOS share sheet can be configured to include the share extensions of other apps in iOS 8 (such as Facebook, Readability, and Day One) along with Twitter’s basic sharing options, with support for AirDrop to boot.

Say hello to the native share sheet in Twitter for iOS.

More on the update

Actually, the integration of the iOS share sheet into Twitter for iOS is not made explicit in the release notes of the app’s latest update. But the notes do mention that the update “includes minor improvements.”

Granted, the arrival of the iOS share sheet is but a minor improvement. But it sure offers a lot of convenience and makes the app’s sharing features easier to use especially to users who, like me, have long gotten used to iOS’ native sharing system.

Apparently, another minor improvement brought about by the update is the use of Twitter cards that show previews (complete with lead images) of supported links.

Twitter for iOS has also gained cards for links.

The update is also said to remove the Discover tab from the app’s iPad version, following the retirement of the tab from the iPhone version in April aimed at making the app’s navigation more streamlined.

Twitter for iOS is available on the App Store for free. It’s compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad running iOS 7.0 or later.

Note that you may need to reset the app on iPhone for the iOS share sheet integration to take effect. As for the iPad version, it appears to be still stuck with Twitter’s custom sharing menu, although it probably won’t be long before it gets upgraded to the native sharing system.

Twitter is also compatible with Apple Watch, allowing for quick tweeting and sharing right from your wrist.