Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,195
30,136



You may or may not know this, but there's a feature in Safari that's designed to let you select a portion of text and send it to a friend over Messages using the Share feature in Safari.

When researching one of our tips videos, we came across this handy trick, but soon discovered that there's another aspect to it -- one that you can use to create fake website headlines that can be sent to your friends and family.


As it turns out, there's a bug in the select text and share feature, and it involves the search function on websites. If you type text into the search bar on a website, highlight it, and then share it with the Safari Share Sheet, it will send your written text along with a website link that looks rather official. See the screenshot below:

fakeheadlinesafari-crop-800x503.jpg

Here are the specific steps to follow to create a fake website title:

1. Go to a website with a search function, such as MacRumors.com.
2. Make sure your iPhone is in landscape mode.
3. Tap on the search bar.
4. Enter your text and then select it.
5. Tap on the Share icon next to the address bar.
6. Select Messages and then type in the name of the person who you want to prank.

From there, the person will see the fake website header that you created, but it will look like text from the website itself because the text isn't sent separately due to the rich text feature in Messages.

This pretty much only works iPhone to iPhone and won't work if you're sending messages to your friends on Android devices. You can use this trick on the iPad too, but it doesn't work on the Mac.

If you want to use the feature as Apple intended you to do, you can select a bit of text on a website and then send it to a friend to highlight something specific that's worth pointing out. Like in our AirPods roundup, if you wanted to highlight the bit about a new color, you could select it and share the page with this text visible in the link.

It's actually a useful feature that's great for pointing out specific passages in blogs, news articles, and more.

We're pretty sure selecting search text through this feature and sending it over Messages is a bug that Apple will fix at some point, but in the meantime you can have a bit of fun with it and send unique website headlines to friends and family.

Article Link: Fun iOS Safari Bug Lets You Trick Your Friends With Fake Website Headlines
 

AngerDanger

Graphics
Staff member
Dec 9, 2008
5,452
29,001
Oh my god, you actually took my advice* with the bug exploit video thumbnail! That's awesome! :D It's got a red arrow, emoji, and it's perfect!

Always great to see that FaceTime bug demo video again! However, I'm not sure if it's optimally attention-grabbing. Sure the all-caps "MAJOR" is a nice start, but it could still use more work. Maybe something like…

g7BqFdK.gif
 
Last edited:

IamTimCook

Suspended
Dec 13, 2016
264
661
NEWS FLASH STRAIGHT FROM APPLE"S NEWSROOM!!!!

Apple hired new R&D testers. The new group of tester seem to actually exercise outdoors. New batch of tester ran several miles outdoors testing the newest version of Airpods, slated to be released sometime this quarter, and decided to scrape the current design model for an in-ear design. Airpods will be delayed another year.

"While exercising on a windy day the Airpods have to be cranked up to maximum to counter the wind noise while jogging" -Unnamed R&D tester
 

keysofanxiety

macrumors G3
Nov 23, 2011
9,539
25,302
NEWS FLASH STRAIGHT FROM APPLE"S NEWSROOM!!!!

Apple hired new R&D testers. The new group of tester seem to actually exercise outdoors. New batch of tester ran several miles outdoors testing the newest version of Airpods, slated to be released sometime this quarter, and decided to scrape the current design model for an in-ear design. Airpods will be delayed another year.

"While exercising on a windy day the Airpods have to be cranked up to maximum to counter the wind noise while jogging" -Unnamed R&D tester

Yeah, I wouldn’t open with that one. Maybe stick to the quips about airline food to ease the crowd in.
 

keysofanxiety

macrumors G3
Nov 23, 2011
9,539
25,302
Really, MacRumors?!? Since when is propagating fake headlines "fun" or positive in any way...this story is ridiculous and is a disservice to anyone who actually values the truth.

It’s a foolproof plan! Unless the user does something stupid, like, say, follow the link and realise it’s a joke.

But if people who “value the truth” take a clickbait headline at face value without investigating further, I think that reflects worse on their values than it does an innocent prank.
 

izyreal

macrumors regular
Sep 26, 2012
217
806
USA
I love this! Everybody in my family is getting the news they most want (or don't want) to hear!
 

arn

macrumors god
Staff member
Apr 9, 2001
16,362
5,794
I’m holding my iPhone XS in landscape but the highlighted (selected) text I’ve entered de-selects when I hit the share button. Any hints?

Try to send anyway? It doesn’t seem to matter.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.