iOS 10: app sharing made simple with handy new 3D Touch shortcut

iOS 10 app sharing 3D Touch iPhone screenshot 001

In the run-up to the WWDC 2016 keynote, Apple announced a major shake up in the App Store with several new features, among them an easier way to share third-party apps with friends and family using 3D Touch.

Now that iOS 10 Preview has released to Apple’s registered developers and we’ve had a chance to spend hands-on time with this feature, we’re pleased to report that it works precisely as advertised.

As evidenced by the screenshots top of post, you can share any third-party app that’s installed on your iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus by simply pressing its icon on the Home screen to select a new Share option from the shortcuts menu.

A sheet pops up, asking you to choose a sharing service of your choice. I’ve shared the Twitter app with myself through Messages and it worked like a charm.

Thanks to a bevy of new features in iOS 10’s Messages app, like rich media previews, the shared link appears as the full title accompanied by its associated App Store icon rather than being rendered as a plan text URL inside the Messages chat, like before.

iOS 10 app sharing 3D Touch iPhone screenshot 002

It’s great that this useful new 3D Touch method works even if an app hasn’t registered any Quick Actions with the system. That’s right, no more of that aggressive vibratory feedback upon mistakenly pressing an app that doesn’t support 3D Touch.

What do you think about 3D Touch-enabled app sharing on iOS 10?

And, do you envision using this new shortcut to share apps with others versus doing it the old-fashioned way, from within the context of the App Store interface?