Thanks to dozens of instant messaging apps, sharing contacts, links, music, etc., has become easier. But, when the time finally comes to open the item shared with you, everything seems lost. Either the link would’ve gone up in the chat, or you’d be too lazy to search for it. Fortunately, there is a dedicated section where all the shared items are stored! Enters the Shared with You feature on your iPhone.
In this article, we will learn about what is Apple’s Shared with You feature on your iPhone and how you can access this section and use it to improve your experience.
What is Shared with You on iPhone Messages?
Apple provided a Shared with You feature in the Messages app in iOS 15. It segregates the content that people send into different sections. For example, all the websites shared with you are in the Links section, images in the Photos section, etc.
And it doesn’t stop here—Shared with You also adds the items shared to the proper apps. This means that if someone shares a link on Messages, it will be not only in the Messages’ Links section but also in Safari.
Similarly, if someone shares a photo, it will appear in Messages as a separate section and also in the Photos app.
How to use Shared with You on iPhone
Shared with You is enabled by default on your iPhone, so it doesn’t require any setup or toggling to work. However, it is only compatible with the media shared in iMessage.
There are several Shared with You integrations across the iOS apps, some of which are mentioned below:
- Photos: When someone sends you an image via iMessage, it will automatically show up in the For You tab of the Photos app. You can save it to your Photo library directly from this section.
Moreover, if you tap the name label at the bottom, the image in iMessage with the in-reply thread open will appear.
- Apple News: If anyone sends you an Apple News story via iMessage, it automatically appears in the Today and Following tabs.
- Safari: Many times, friends share links to articles and news pieces that may be useful to us. Now, you’ll no longer need to search your iMessage chat and find the link. Instead, all the links shared with you will show in a separate section in Safari.
- Apple Music and Podcast: Music and podcast links shared via iMessage show up in the Shared with You section in the Listen Now tab in the Apple Music and Podcast app.
- Apple TV: When someone sends a movie or a TV show link via iMessage, the TV show or the movie will appear in the Shared with You section of the Watch Now tab so you can start watching it quickly.
Besides, you can access the Shared with You section in Books, Files, Notes, and Reminders among native iOS apps.
Apart from Shared with You, you can use SharePlay to watch movies and TV shows together on your iPhone. To learn more, check out our detailed guide on how to use SharePlay.
How to turn off Shared with You on iPhone
- Open iPhone Settings.
- Scroll down and select Messages.
- Now, select Shared with You.
- Here, disable Shared with You for all apps or selected apps.
Alternatively, if you just want to prevent a specific conversation from appearing in Shared with You, you can simply hide it.
Hide content from appearing in Shared with You
Don’t want every message thread to appear in the Shared with You section of the app? You can easily hide it! However, you can’t select the content type. It will hide all types of content in Shared with You from that particular message thread.
- Open Messages → Go to conversation you don’t want to see in Shared with You.
- Tap the profile icon at the top.
- Toggle off Show in Shared with You. That’s it!
Shared with You is an excellent feature on iPhone and iPad. It lowers the number of steps required to search for a shared item. However, it is limited by the iMessage-only functionality. Had Apple opened up its API to third-party developers, it would have been one of the best iOS features.
What are your thoughts about Shared with You? Share in the comments below!
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