📌 Expo Sharing Issue on iOS Gmail

This repository demonstrates an issue where Gmail on iOS does not attach images when using Sharing.shareAsync() in an Expo React Native (Managed Workflow) app. The issue is specific to Gmail on iOS—it works fine on Slack, Mail, WhatsApp, and Android Gmail.

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📂 Project Setup

1️⃣ Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/rcpankaj/expo-sharing-issue.git
cd expo-sharing-issue

2️⃣ Install dependencies sh Copy Edit npm install # or yarn install 3️⃣ Run the development build sh Copy Edit expo start --dev-client 4️⃣ Test the share functionality: Click the "Share QR Code" button.

Select Gmail on iOS as the sharing option.

🛠 Issue Description When using Sharing.shareAsync() to share an image, the Gmail compose window opens with the text message but does not attach the image.

The same code works with Slack, Mail, and other apps.

The issue only happens on iOS Gmail.

Expected Behavior ✅ The Gmail compose window should open with the image attached.

Actual Behavior ❌ The Gmail compose window opens, but only the text appears—image is missing.

📌 Code Example tsx Copy Edit const handleShare = async () => { if (!viewShotRef.current) return;

try { const uri = await captureRef(viewShotRef, { format: 'jpg', quality: 0.8, }); if (!uri) return;

const filePath = `${FileSystem.cacheDirectory}qrcode.jpg`;
await FileSystem.copyAsync({ from: uri, to: filePath });

if (await Sharing.isAvailableAsync()) {
  await Sharing.shareAsync(filePath, {
    mimeType: 'image/jpeg',
    dialogTitle: 'Share QR Code',
  });
} else {
  await Share.share({
    message: 'Here is the QR code.',
    url: filePath,
  });
}

} catch (error) { console.error('Error sharing QR code:', error); } }; 🔍 Debugging Attempts ✔️ Verified that the file exists using FileSystem.getInfoAsync(). ✔️ Tried setting mimeType: 'image/jpeg'. ✔️ Tested MailComposer, but Gmail still ignores the attachment. ✔️ Confirmed the issue does not exist on Android Gmail.

📌 Environment Details Expo SDK Version: Run expo --version to confirm.

React Native Version: Managed workflow (expo-dev-client)

Platform: iOS (Issue only in Gmail, works fine on Android)

Latest Expo Version: ✅ Tested & issue still exists

🚀 Possible Workarounds & Help Needed Is this a known limitation with expo-sharing or expo-file-system?

Any suggestions to force Gmail to recognize the image attachment?

Would setting UTI: 'public.jpeg' or another workaround be needed?

📄 License This project is open-source and available under the MIT License.

yaml Copy Edit

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📌 How to Use This File

1. Save it as README.md in your project root.
2. Push it to GitHub:

   git add README.md
   git commit -m "Add README"
   git push origin main
   This README will provide a clear and structured report of your issue for GitHub. 🚀 Let me know if you need any changes!