"This item cannot be shared. Please select a different item." WhatsApp iOS share extension failure message

Question

This bug is fixed by WhatsApp team on 23rd May, 2016 (build no. 2.16.4).

Unable to share NSString object using UIActivityViewController to WhatsApp.

I tried to share using below code. But once contact is selected from the list, it shows an alert displaying "This item cannot be shared. Please select a different item."

CODE

NSString *shareText = @"Temp text to share";
NSArray *itemsToShare = @[shareText];

UIActivityViewController *activityVC = [[UIActivityViewController alloc] initWithActivityItems:itemsToShare applicationActivities:nil];

I am facing this problem after updating WhatsApp to version 2.16.2

Answer 1

Received a response from WhatsApp team

- WhatsApp Support -

Hi,

Sorry for the delay! We have received many emails recently, and we do our best to answer them all. Thank you for your patience.

Thank you for informing us about the issue; it will be fixed in a future version of WhatsApp. Unfortunately, we cannot comment on any future timelines, sorry. Thank you for your continued patience and support of WhatsApp.

Cheers, Hans

So, they acknowledge the bug and will fix this in the next release.

Possible Workarounds =>

• Till then one can use UrlSchemes to share plaintext+url. Follow Spydy's answer.
  OR
• One can create subclass of UIActivity with activityCategory as UIActivityCategoryShare with whatsapp icon. Then when user selects it, will use urlschemes to share text. For this use JBWhatsAppActivity
  OR
• Just share NSUrl object for sharing url. Once the fix is done you can revert to sharing plain text and url.

Answer 2

WhatsApp has fixed this bug in the their update dated 23rd May, 2016 (build no. 2.16.4).

It hasn't been reported by official sources, but I have tested it in my code - works fine.

Answer 3

You might wanna try sharing the local URL of the item you're trying to share. For example, if you'd like to share a pdf, don't try to share it's NSData or Data object, WhatsApp still does show that error for that. Instead, if you share the local URL of it, WhatsApp recognizes it and shares it well.

I must note that many apps including native Mail, Gmail, Slack, GDrive etc. do recognize the pdf if you try to share the Data object.

For example:

After downloading a PDF, bind its URL into a variable called fileURL:

var fileURL = URL(string: url)
    let destination: DownloadRequest.DownloadFileDestination = { _, _ in
        let documentsURL = FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask)[0]
        fileURL = documentsURL.appendingPathComponent("AWESOME_PDF.pdf")
        return (fileURL!, [.removePreviousFile, .createIntermediateDirectories])
    }

Then you can simply share the fileURL instead:

let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(            
      activityItems: [fileURL!],
      applicationActivities: nil
)

WhatsApp will recognize the PDF.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

have faced same issue after updating whatsapp. Even you press "cancel" on whatsapp still completion block shows success. i have resolved it by using "WFActivitySpecificItemProvider" and "WFActivitySpecificItemProvider"when sharing on whatsapp then dissmiss activityViewController and share via ur. You can pull WFActivitySpecificItemProvider, activityViewController classes from https://github.com/wileywimberly/WFActivitySpecificItemProvider

here is my code

- (void)share{

NSString *defaultMessage = @"your message may contain url";

// Use a dictionary
WFActivitySpecificItemProvider *provider1 =
[[WFActivitySpecificItemProvider alloc]
 initWithPlaceholderItem:@""
 items:@{
         WFActivitySpecificItemProviderTypeDefault : defaultMessage,
         UIActivityTypePostToFacebook : defaultMessage,
         UIActivityTypeMail : defaultMessage,
         UIActivityTypeMessage : defaultMessage,
         @"com.linkedin.LinkedIn.ShareExtension":defaultMessage,
         UIActivityTypePostToTwitter : defaultMessage

         }];


// Use a block
WFActivitySpecificItemProvider *provider2 =
[[WFActivitySpecificItemProvider alloc]
 initWithPlaceholderItem:@""
 block:^(NSString *activityType){

     if ([activityType isEqualToString:@"net.whatsapp.WhatsApp.ShareExtension"]) {


         [avc dismissViewControllerAnimated:NO completion:nil];

         dispatch_after(dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, 1 * NSEC_PER_SEC), dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{



             NSString *string = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"whatsapp://send?text=%@",defaultMessage];
             NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:[string stringByAddingPercentEscapesUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
             [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL: url];


         });
     }

     return defaultMessage;
 }];


avc = [[UIActivityViewController alloc]
       initWithActivityItems:@[provider1, provider2]
       applicationActivities:nil];

[avc dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:nil];
[avc setValue:sharingHeader forKey:@"subject"];

[avc setCompletionHandler:^(NSString *activityType, BOOL completed) {

    if (activityType) {


        NSLog(@"activity: %@ completed: %@",activityType,completed ? @"YES" : @"NO");


    } else {


        NSLog(@"No activity was selected. (Cancel)");
    }

}];

[self presentViewController:avc animated:YES completion:nil];
}