Apple’s latest iOS 8.3 beta appears to be without its familiar Twitter sharing button, preventing users from sharing content directly from other iOS apps. The change could indicate that Twitter is working on its own share extension that may be available soon.
The baked-in Twitter sharing button has been a part of iOS for years — since iOS 5 — allowing users to share things like photos from inside the official Photos app, links from within Safari, and more. But 9to5Mac reports that it is gone in the latest iOS beta.
This could be a simple bug, or it could be that Apple removed it intentionally with an official Twitter share extension on the way.
Given that the official Twitter client for iOS is an immensely popular app, it makes sense that it would want to support the latest iOS features — which include the new share extensions Apple baked into iOS 8. And if it did, Twitter sharing could be much better.
The existing Twitter button only allows users to share one photo at a time, and doesn’t offer support for things like people tagging, or the ability to upload GIFs. An official share extension may change that — and could allow us to tweet content from a greater number of iOS apps.
“An app-based extension would also allow Twitter to upgrade the share sheet on its own terms without the need for a full iOS upgrade,” notes 9to5Mac. ” A quick install through the App Store could bestow the latest and greatest features on millions of users, while features in limited rollout or testing could be enabled on a per-user basis.”
It’s somewhat surprising that Twitter hasn’t already delivered a share extension, given that iOS 8 has been available for more than six months now. But perhaps a change is on the horizon.