In iOS 16, SwiftUI comes with a brand new view referred to as ShareLink
. When customers faucet on the share hyperlink, it presents a share sheet for customers to share content material to different functions or copy the information for later use.
The ShareLink
view is designed to share any kinds of information. On this tutorial, we’ll present you how you can use ShareLink
to let customers share textual content, URL, and pictures.
Fundamental Utilization of ShareLink
Let’s start with an instance. To create a share hyperlink for sharing a URL, you’ll be able to write the code like this:
var physique: some View {
VStack {
ShareLink(merchandise: url)
}
}
}
struct ContentView: View { Â Â Â Â non-public let url = URL(string: “https://www.appcoda.com”)! Â Â Â Â Â var physique: some View { Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â VStack { Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â ShareLink(merchandise: url) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â } Â Â Â Â } } |
SwiftUI robotically renders a Share button with a small icon.

When tapped, iOS brings up a share sheet for customers to carry out additional actions akin to copy and including the hyperlink to Reminders.

To share textual content, as an alternative of URL, you’ll be able to merely go the a string to the merchandise
parameter.
ShareLink(merchandise: “Try this new function on iOS 16”) |
Customizing the Look of Share Hyperlink
To customise the looks of the hyperlink, you’ll be able to present the view content material within the closure like this:
ShareLink(merchandise: url) { Â Â Â Â Picture(systemName: “sq..and.arrow.up”) } |
On this case, SwiftUI solely shows the share icon for the hyperlink.

Alternatively, you’ll be able to current a label with a system picture or customized picture:
ShareLink(merchandise: url) { Â Â Â Â Label(“Faucet me to share”, systemImage:Â Â “sq..and.arrow.up”) } |
When initializing the ShareLink
occasion, you’ll be able to embody two further parameters to offer further details about the shared merchandise:
ShareLink(merchandise: url, topic: Textual content(“Try this hyperlink”), message: Textual content(“If you wish to study Swift, check out this web site.”)) { Â Â Â Â Picture(systemName: “sq..and.arrow.up”) } |
The topic
parameter enables you to embody a title concerning the URL or any merchandise to share. The message
parameter permits you to specify the outline of the merchandise. Relying on the actions the person shares to, iOS will current the topic or message or each. Say, should you add the URL to Reminders, the Reminders app shows the preset message.

Sharing Pictures
Aside from URLs, you’ll be able to share pictures utilizing ShareLink
. Here’s a pattern code snippet:
var physique: some View {
VStack(alignment: .main, spacing: 10) {
photograph
.resizable()
.scaledToFit()
ShareLink(merchandise: photograph, preview: SharePreview(“Huge Ben”, picture: photograph))
}
.padding(.horizontal)
}
}
struct ContentView: View {     non-public let photograph = Picture(“bigben”)      var physique: some View {         VStack(alignment: .main, spacing: 10) {             photograph                 .resizable()                 .scaledToFit()              ShareLink(merchandise: photograph, preview: SharePreview(“Huge Ben”, picture: photograph))          }         .padding(.horizontal)     } } |
For the merchandise
parameter, you specify the picture to share. And, you present a preview of the picture by passing an occasion of SharePreview
. Within the preview, you specify the title of the picture and the thumbnail. While you faucet the Share button, iOS brings up a share sheet with the picture preview.

Conforming to Transferable
Aside from URLs, the merchandise
parameter accepts any objects that conforms to the Transferable
protocol. In iOS, the next sorts are the usual Transferable
sorts:
- String
- Knowledge
- URL
- Attributed String
- Picture
Transferable is a protocol that describes how a kind interacts with transport APIs akin to drag and drop or copy and paste.
So what you probably have a customized object, how will you make it transferable? Let’s say, you create the next Photograph
construction:
struct Photograph: Identifiable {     var id = UUID()     var picture: Picture     var caption: String     var description: String } |
To let ShareLink
share this object, you need to undertake the Transferable
protocol for Photograph
and implement the transferRepresentation
property:
extension Photograph: Transferable { Â Â Â Â static var transferRepresentation: some TransferRepresentation { Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â ProxyRepresentation(exporting: .picture) Â Â Â Â } } |
There are a variety of Switch Representations together with ProxyRepresentation
, CodableRepresentation
, DataRepresentation
, and FileRepresentation
. Within the code above, we use the ProxyRepresentation
which is a switch illustration that makes use of one other sort’s switch illustration as its personal. Right here, we use the Picture
‘s built-in Transferable
conformance.

Since Photograph
now conforms to Transferable
, you’ll be able to go the Photograph
occasion to ShareLink
:
ShareLink(merchandise: photograph, preview: SharePreview(photograph.caption, picture: photograph.picture)) |
When customers faucet the Share button, the app brings up the share sheet for sharing the photograph.
What’s Subsequent
This tutorial reveals you how you can use ShareLink
for sharing textual content, URL, and pictures. The truth is, this new view permits you to share any kinds of information so long as the sort conforms to the Transferable
protocol.
For customized sorts, you undertake the protocol and supply a switch illustration through the use of one of many built-in TransferRepresentation
sorts. We briefly focus on the ProxyRepresentation
sort. If you should share a file between functions, you should use the FileRepresentation
sort. In later tutorials, we’ll focus on extra on that.