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When you want to "share" a file to an app,
a line of "recommended people to share with" appears above the apps:

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Problem: I often need to perform demos on my phone, and for privacy reasons I do not want my friends to appear there.

Question: How to disable this feature, meaning that only suggested apps will appear?
Or at least, how to clear them or remove them one by one?

Notes:

  • My phone is not rooted, Pixel with stock Android 14.
  • I also post screencasts several times per day, so going very fast is not a solution. Editing each screencast is not realistic either.
  • Introduced in 2015, this feature is called direct share, and the contacts listed come from a variety of apps, such as Messenger, LINE, Whatsapp, and many others. When I long-press a friend, the only possible action is to pin them.
  • On rooted phones this might have worked before Android 10: https://github.com/stefansundin/android-disable-direct-share
  • Apparently on Samsung and LG, direct share can be disabled (unfortunately Pixel has no such setting):

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3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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Apparently, Android OS doesn't provide a way to do it. However, for privacy reasons, the better option is to create another 'Demo' user account on your phone specifically for recording screencasts. That's what I ended up doing.

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  • I am not a developer but what I could gather that user's can't remove contacts added to share menu, while developers seem to be getting better and smarter ways to do it (see links at end of the answer)

  • Way back, there used to be Xposed modules, rooted apps and other Non-rooted apps but they all seem to be have vanished except sharedr with a caveat

Sharedr will stop working as default share menu on Android 12. Find out more here: https://sharedr.rejh.nl/#notice

Google has decided to block 3rd party share replacement apps in Android 12 from responding to the share event... (My Note: That's probably why all those apps including Non-rooted ones vanished!)

  • After seeing your question and this being the only app that is available, I decided to try it on Pixel 6a, Android 13. In short:

    • It works by showing only list of suggested apps and doesn't show any contacts

    • Takes some efforts to set it up but not difficult

How to set it up

  • Don't get intimidated by the start-up screen, it's only telling you that it won't work as default share app

  • Say from Chrome share menu tap on the ⚫⚫⚫ more on the top panel which has apps while the bottom panel has actions like copy link, long screenshot etc

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and scroll through the list of apps , find sharedr, long press and pin Sharedr

  • It will now appear like this

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  • Click on the sharedr icon and it will reveal all aps that can receive shared content. Tap on any icon to hide or reset from the 3dots menu

All set, no contacts shown, only apps shown!

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Google pleasantly surprises (rarely)

On Google photos ver 6.53, I am allowed to remove contacts!

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References that tell me users can't remove share options:

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My solution for now: Pin some official accounts until the row is full and your friends have no place to appear.

I pinned a phone utility, a delivery service that everyone uses, a government account, etc. None of these are privacy-sensitive. I never actually send anything to them.

I am still looking for better solutions that would completely remove that bar, giving some screen space left.

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