If all things go accordingly, the first public beta of Android 14 should be going live in a few months. And over the past couple of months, we have heard some interesting information about what the latest update will bring to the table. We have more information about how the next update will streamline the share menu.
Currently, the sharing menu is an absolute mess. Not only does it display entirely different options based on the app you are using, but there are inconsistencies across various skins. So, for instance, the share menu would look drastically different in terms of functionality on the One UI compared to how it would look on stock Android. Based on information from Mishaal Rahman, Android 14 aims to take care of that.
Android 14 will make share menus standard across apps and OEM skins
How is it going to change? Well, Rahman has mentioned how Google might be moving to Android Sharesheet to a Project Mainline module in a future release, and doing so will fix the inconsistencies we see. To further solidify that, the latest image of Andriod 13 QPR 1 beta comes with a new app. Upon inspecting the source code, you can find a new "Instant Resolver" app which is supposed to handle Android's "choose" code, which in return, calls on the Android Sharesheet by enforcing the user to select the app that should be used for the share action.
If Google sticks to this for Android 14 and adds the Android Sharesheet to the Project Mainline, it would mean that all the other Android OEMs and app developers must follow in their footsteps. It might not seem like a big deal for the user, but this would mean a much more consistent experience when it comes to the sharing menus because they are a mess at the time of writing. Don't believe this? Open any app on your phone and check their share menus; chances are, they will be entirely different.
The above screenshot shows the sharesheet of Facebook on the left and Twitter on the right. Notice how they are different, even regarding the consistency of icon themes. With Android 14, this would not be an issue.
We can't say for sure if this feature will make it to the final build of Android 14, but for the sake of improving user experience, we surely hope Google adds this feature in the future.
