Android apps have been launching custom share menus. However, recently they haven’t been able to (but they can launch ShareSheet, the official share menu) and this was reported as a bug by Sharedr. Google says it isn’t a bug and that apps aren’t supposed to alter share menus because it’s technically infeasible and causes an inconsistent user experience. As of Android 12, the unintended ability to customize the share menu will be eliminated.
Improving the consistency of the user experience and making it harder for apps to manipulate users via customizing sharing menus is a great move. However, I would really like to see Google ban apps from intercepting users’ SMS text messages, especially considering that 2FA codes are often delivered via SMS messages. This is an enormous security risk and a major violation of privacy. Google should also bar any Android smartphone vendor from using Google Play services if they implement such a feature.
