receive_sharing_intent

Newer iOS versions deliver shared URLs through UISceneDelegate rather than AppDelegate. To ensure the plugin continues to work, your app must adopt a SceneDelegate that subclasses FlutterSceneDelegate.

If your app uses other URL-handling libraries (like flutter_branch_sdk or uni_links), you must manually pass the lifecycle events to ReceiveSharingIntentPlugin to prevent them from being intercepted by other handlers.

import Flutter
import UIKit
import receive_sharing_intent

class SceneDelegate: FlutterSceneDelegate {
    // Called on a cold start
    override func scene(
        _ scene: UIScene,
        willConnectTo session: UISceneSession,
        options connectionOptions: UIScene.ConnectionOptions
    ) {
        // Pass events to the plugin to prevent other libraries from absorbing links
        _ = ReceiveSharingIntentPlugin.instance.scene(scene, willConnectTo: session, options: connectionOptions)
        super.scene(scene, willConnectTo: session, options: connectionOptions)
    }

    // Called while the app is already running (warm start)
    override func scene(_ scene: UIScene, openURLContexts URLContexts: Set<UIOpenURLContext>) { 
        if ReceiveSharingIntentPlugin.instance.scene(scene, openURLContexts: URLContexts) {
            return
        }
        super.scene(scene, openURLContexts: URLContexts)
    }
}

To enable sharing from other iOS apps into your Flutter app, you must create a dedicated Share Extension target in Xcode.

1. Create Target: In Xcode, go to File/New/Target and choose Share Extension. Give it a name (e.g., "Share Extension").
2. Sync Deployment Targets: Ensure the deployment target for both Runner.app and your new Share Extension is identical.
3. Configure Info.plist (Extension): Replace your ios/Share Extension/Info.plist with a configuration that defines AppGroupId and NSExtensionAttributes. Use PHSupportedMediaTypes to specify supported media (e.g., Video, Image) and NSExtensionActivationRule to define rules for text, URLs, images, videos, and files.
4. Configure Info.plist (Runner): Update ios/Runner/Info.plist to include the AppGroupId, CFBundleURLTypes (for deep linking back to your app), and NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription for photo access.
5. Configure Entitlements: Add com.apple.developer.associated-domains to ios/Runner/Runner.entitlements if you need to support opening URLs into your app.
6. App Groups: In the Signing & Capabilities tab, add the App Groups capability to BOTH the Runner and Share Extension targets. Create a container (e.g., group.com.example.app) and add a User-defined build setting CUSTOM_GROUP_ID to BOTH targets with that same value.

<!-- Example NSExtensionActivationRule snippet for Info.plist -->
<key>NSExtensionActivationRule</key>
<dict>
    <key>NSExtensionActivationSupportsText</key>
    <true/>
    <key>NSExtensionActivationSupportsWebURLWithMaxCount</key>
    <integer>1</integer>
    <key>NSExtensionActivationSupportsImageWithMaxCount</key>
    <integer>100</integer>
    <key>NSExtensionActivationSupportsMovieWithMaxCount</key>
    <integer>100</integer>
    <key>NSExtensionActivationSupportsFileWithMaxCount</key>
    <integer>1</integer>
</dict>

To allow your Android app to receive shared content, you must add specific <intent-filter> blocks to your android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml.

Key Configuration Steps:

1. Permissions: Ensure you have <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/> if accessing files.
2. Activity Launch Mode: Set android:launchMode="singleTask" on your .MainActivity to prevent creating a new activity instance every time a new intent is received.
3. Intent Filters: Add filters based on the type of content you want to support (URLs, text, images, videos, or generic files).

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
 <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>

  <application>
    <activity
            android:name=".MainActivity"
            android:launchMode="singleTask"
            ...
            >

            <!-- Support opening URLs -->
            <intent-filter>
               <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />
               <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
               <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" />
               <data android:scheme="https" android:host="example.com" android:pathPrefix="/invite"/>
            </intent-filter>

            <!-- Support opening files -->
            <intent-filter>
              <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />
              <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
              <data android:mimeType="*/*" android:scheme="content" />
            </intent-filter>

            <!-- Support sharing text -->
            <intent-filter>
               <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEND" />
               <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
               <data android:mimeType="text/*" />
            </intent-filter>

            <!-- Support sharing 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>

            <!-- Support sharing 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>

            <!-- Support sharing any type of files -->
            <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>

Common issues when setting up the iOS Share Extension:

• Error: No such module 'receive_sharing_intent' (in the Share Extension)

  • Fix: Ensure you have added the FlutterGeneratedPluginSwiftPackage library to the Share Extension target under General $\rightarrow$ Frameworks and Libraries in Xcode.

• Error: Unable to resolve module dependency: 'receive_sharing_intent'

  • Fix: Verify that Swift Package Manager is enabled via flutter config --enable-swift-package-manager and that the Share Extension target is correctly linked to the package.

• Error: Invalid Bundle. The bundle at 'Runner.app/Plugins/Sharing Extension.appex' contains disallowed file 'Frameworks'

  • Fix: This is a known iOS bundling issue. Refer to the StackOverflow solution linked in the documentation (https://stackoverflow.com/a/25789145/).

• Build Order Issue: If you encounter module errors, go to the Build Phases of your Runner target and move Embed Foundation Extension to the top of Thin Binary.

To handle shared media or files in your Flutter application, you must handle two distinct scenarios: when the app is already running in the background (via a Stream) and when the app is launched from a closed state (via an initial media fetch).

1. App in memory: Use ReceiveSharingIntent.instance.getMediaStream() to listen for new sharing intents while the app is running. This returns a Stream<List<SharedMediaFile>>.
2. App closed: Use ReceiveSharingIntent.instance.getInitialMedia() to retrieve the intent that launched the app. This returns a Future<List<SharedMediaFile>>.
3. Cleanup: After processing the initial media, call ReceiveSharingIntent.instance.reset() to clear the intent. Always cancel your stream subscription in the dispose() method of your widget to prevent memory leaks.

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'dart:async';
import 'package:receive_sharing_intent/receive_sharing_intent.dart';

// ... inside a State class ...

late StreamSubscription _intentSub;
final _sharedFiles = <SharedMediaFile>[];

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

  // 1. Listen to media sharing while the app is in memory
  _intentSub = ReceiveSharingIntent.instance.getMediaStream().listen((value) {
    setState(() {
      _sharedFiles.clear();
      _sharedFiles.addAll(value);
    });
  }, onError: (err) {
    print("getIntentDataStream error: $err");
  });

  // 2. Get media sharing while the app was closed
  ReceiveSharingIntent.instance.getInitialMedia().then((value) {
    setState(() {
      _sharedFiles.clear();
      _sharedFiles.addAll(value);
    });

    // 3. Tell the library that we are done processing the intent
    ReceiveSharingIntent.instance.reset();
  });
}

@override
void dispose() {
  _intentSub.cancel();
  super.dispose();
}

The RSIShareViewController (which your extension's ShareViewController should inherit from) allows you to control how shared content is presented to the user.

Redirect Behavior

• shouldAutoRedirect() -> Bool (Default: true): If true, no UI is shown. The content is processed and the user is immediately sent to your host app. If false, a built-in compose sheet is shown.

Built-in Compose UI Customization

If you set shouldAutoRedirect to false, you can customize the following members:

• placeholder: The text shown in the empty message field.
• sendButtonTitle: The label for the confirmation button.
• isContentValid() -> Bool: A validation check for the Send button (default is always valid).
• didSelectPost(): Called when the user taps Send. Use saveAndRedirect(message: contentText) to save the typed message and redirect.
• didSelectCancel(): Called when the user cancels. Use cancel() to end the request.

import receive_sharing_intent

class ShareViewController: RSIShareViewController {

    override func shouldAutoRedirect() -> Bool { false }

    // Placeholder shown in the empty message field.
    override var placeholder: String { "Add a caption…" }

    // Title of the confirm button
    override var sendButtonTitle: String { "Send to Example" }

    // Gate the Send button on your own validation.
    override func isContentValid() -> Bool { !contentText.isEmpty }

    // Called when the user taps Send.
    override func didSelectPost() { saveAndRedirect(message: contentText) }

    // Called when the user taps Cancel.
    override func didSelectCancel() { cancel() }
}