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Turn off contacts in the iOS 13 Share Sheet

I need to be able to remove the list of suggested contacts on the top row of the "share sheet" in Safari and other iOS 13 applications. In just the past week since I switched to iOS 13, I've had a couple accidental shares; moreover, sometimes I present the contents of my screen to an audience, and I do not want them to see my frequent contacts. Finally, most of the suggested contacts are not contacts I would use anyways and are actually in frequent. This create some awkward circumstances an accidental sharing possibilities that can result from an accidental tap or brush with the screen. (Please see attached image from a similar request from another discussion group.) Thank you for your answers.




[Image Edited by Moderator]

Posted on Oct 2, 2019 5:01 PM

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Posted on Oct 15, 2019 7:32 AM

The share tab was changed and while there is some ability to control what apps you can share to, there appears to be no way to turn off having contacts listed on the share tab nor is there an ability to control which contacts appear. They appear to be selected based on most recently used possibly among other factors or "secret formula".


I think Apple took this move as a strong arm approach to promote/force more usage of the iMessage app over other sharing apps. For example, when I do share links, it is usually with WhatsApp, which now requires deeper screen navigation to get at each time because the screen real-estate is now taken up by Apple's choice of my iMessage recipients (none of whom I ever share links with).


I put in an apple feedback to: Feedback - iPhone - Apple. Recommend that anyone who does not like this feature to put in a feedback for it also asking Apple to allow the user to configure whether they want iMessage/text message contacts to appear there or not.


261 replies

Sep 16, 2020 12:39 PM in response to jjmck

Hey! You can turn off Share sheet suggestions from the apps separately. For instance in telegram go to data and storage >> share sheet >> turn the toggles off for “suggested chats”. Separately if you go to iphone settings >> siri suggestions >> you won’t be able to find “suggestions when sharing” option (I think it was available for older OSs)

Sep 17, 2020 7:07 AM in response to artemis49

Already done all of that, and nothing changes. I also did a 'restart' when I turned everything off in the event that may remove old cached material, but no dice. We're stuck with that annoyance until Apple chooses to remedy this 'feature' by either removing it OR making it optional. I'm sure some users love it.

Oct 5, 2020 11:20 AM in response to jjmck

I came across the same dilemma as well. What I found out was that if you’re forwarding something, a picture, website and you see the suggested contacts. Press the contact and a message will come up, show less, click it and that person will go away. This works great if you’re talking to several women at the same time you don’t want someone looking over your shoulder and see who else you’re talking to. LOL

Turn off contacts in the iOS 13 Share Sheet

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