Android P DP4: Share menu now only shows 4 ‘Direct Share’ targets, down from 8

Ben Schoon | Jul 3 2018 - 6:26 am PT

Android’s sharing menu has evolved throughout the years, but one of its most powerful additions came in Marshmallow with the arrival of “Direct Share.” In the latest release of Android P, though, that feature is being trimmed down a bit…

Direct Share, if you haven’t heard of it, is an optional feature that apps can use to make sharing a bit easier. Simply put, it lets users share something to a specific part/user of an app without opening it. For example, it’s used by Android Messages for sharing to specific contacts, and Pushbullet for sharing to specific sources.

It’s definitely a handy tool, but it’s also slow to load and can crowd out the rest of the share menu options. In Android P DP4, Google has adjusted things a bit. As first noted by Android Police, the share menu now only shows 4 direct share targets instead of the 8 it previously could. This, unfortunately, doesn’t make much of a difference in the load time, but it does have a cleaner overall look.

9to5Google’s Take

Android’s sharing menu is definitely due for some big changes, and it’s a shame Android P isn’t the home of this. With Google giving a bit of attention to Direct Share in particular, though, I’d love to see the company give us an option to choose what targets appear in this list.