Sharing a publication

All publications in JW Library can be shared with someone else. On either the Home tab or the Library tab find any publication you would like to share.

Swipe down with 1 finger.

Double tap More.

VoiceOver will say: "Alert. Share link button." This just means that a dialog appeared on the screen and the first item in it is the share link button.

Double tap the Share link button to open the standard iOS Share Sheet. At the top of the Share Sheet will be the name of the item you are going to send somewhere. For example: Enjoy Life Forever!–Introductory Bible Lessons, jw.org

If you swipe right you'll find the Close button, which you can use if you've changed your mind about sending that publication at this moment, or you just opened the Share Sheet to see what it was like.

There will likely be a very long list of options, but everyone's Share Sheet will be a little different, because it can be customized, and depends on the apps that are installed. I am only going to discuss a few of the most common options, which likely are available on everyone's device.

AirDrop

This option is only useful for sharing something with someone near by that also has an Apple device. It requires that both bluetooth and WiFi be turned on for both the sender and receiver.

If a near by person's device isn't found when you choose AirDrop, then ask them to go to Settings > General > Airdrop and make sure that "receiving off" isn't selected on their device. It could also be set to receive only from people in Contacts, and you are not yet a contact. Receive from everyone should ensure that it works, but of course that could be a level of insecurity that a person isn't comfortable with.

Messages

This will allow you to send the link to the publication on jw.org to a person using a text message. It might turn in to an iMessage if they also have an Apple device.

A screen will open with "New Message" at the top. After that will be a Cancel button you can use if you change your mind.

VoiceOver should say: "To: text field is editing." This is where you type in the name or phone number of a person to send the link to.

If the person is in your Contacts typing only part of their name will bring up a list of matching contacts. Swipe right through the choices and double tap the one you want.

To type in a phone number you will have to switch to numbers on the keyboard. You'll notice that it is the numbers and punctuation keyboard, not the phone pad, so it doesn't really seem to expect you to send to someone that is not in your contacts. It should still work, however.

The Add Contact button is to add another recipient to the message. It will bring up your entire Contacts list. Despite the name, it is not for adding the contact info you just entered as a new person in your Contacts.

Next is a text field that says: "Message Add comment or send" which is where you type in any message you would like to send along with the link. Double tap here to stop editing the "to" field and start writing your message. Of course dictating also works. It is not necessary to write anything before sending.

After the message field is a spot that says: "Attached app" followed by the name of what you are sending. Don't worry, it says app but it is actually only sending a link.

There is a "remove app from message" button, but why would you use that when you could just cancel sending the message.

Last there is the all important Send button. Double tap it when you are finished choosing recipients and writing a message.

E-mail

Find and double tap the Mail button in the ShareSheet.

A new message will open with the name of the publication or file being attached.

Swipe right past the dimmed Send button and the sender's address, which will be your default address.

Double tap the "To" edit field.

If the person you want to send the message to is already in your contacts, or you have sent them an E-mail before, you can start typing their name or E-mail address. Somewhere below the To field there will be a list of matching "results" for what you have typed. Double tap one of these results to enter it in the To field.

If you have never sent a message to this person's E-mail address you will have to type in the entire thing. Sometimes while you are typing in the address the To field misbehaves and you will find that either what you've typed is gone, messed up, or VoiceOver won't read it. If that happens you'll have to double tap the delete button a bunch of times and start over.

If you are comfortable handing your phone to someone else, I would recommend turning off VoiceOver and letting them type in their own E-mail address. Likely, they are more familiar with typing it than you will be.

The subject of the E-mail is fortunately filled in with the title of the publication.

Now you can either find the Send button in the top right corner just below the status-bar, or you can add a personal message to the E-mail.

If you want to have something besides the link or publication attachment in the message: Swipe until you hear "Message Body." Double tap it so it says "Message Body, text field is editing."

Unfortunately, you will most likely be at the end of the message after your signature. Double tap so that Voiceover says "Insertion point at start."

Now you can type or dictate something in the message. Make absolutely certain to finish your typing or dictation with a couple newlines or returns so that the link is on a separate line after what you wrote.

When finished find and double tap the Send button in the top right corner. Hopefully you hear that swishing sound that means your message was sent. If the Send button is still dimmed, that means you will have to fix the address written in the To field, because it isn't recognized as a valid E-mail address.

Share file

Although electronic text publications only have the option of being sent as a link on jw.org, many audio and video publications have the option to share the downloaded file directly from JW Library.

To share an audio or video file:

First, you will have to have the file downloaded in your JW Library app.

Method 1: Find the downloaded video in either the Home or Library tab of JW Library.

Then swipe down with 1 finger until you hear More button. Double tap it.

The first button in the dialog that opens will be the Share Link button. Swipe right once to get to the Share File button, and double tap it. The Share Sheet should open and present you with similar options to what you find when sharing a publication link.

Note: If there is no Share File button it means you probably haven't downloaded this video yet. You will need to activate the cancel button, then swipe down on the name of the video until yu hear "Download," and double tap it. Once it's downloaded repeat the steps above.

Method 2:

When playing downloaded audio or video in JW Library:

Find and double tap the Settings button in the media player. It doesn't matter if it is the full-screen media player or just the media bar near the bottom of the screen.

In the Settings in the media player the first button is the Share button.

Double tap the Share button, then swipe right to the Share File button.

When you double tap the Share File button you will be presented with the Share Sheet. The name and size of the file being shared will be in the heading at the top.

Now pick an app or method of sharing the file. The rest of the process is very much like the steps described above for sharing a link.

Note: Not all systems accept large files, so iOS may suggest sending a link instead of the file. I recommend asking the person who is to receive the file what they prefer and think will work.