To summarize a video from the iPhone share sheet, open the video in any app, tap the Share button, choose a summarizer app from the list, and read the summary it returns. You never copy the link, and you never leave the app you were watching in. Apps that support this today include SenseIT and Gist AI.
That is the short answer. The rest of this page explains why the share sheet is the fastest route, how to set it up, and what to do when the app you want does not show up in the list.
Why copying the link is the slow way
The usual advice for summarizing a video is: copy the link, switch to a summarizer app, paste the link, wait. That is four actions and two app switches for a single clip. It also breaks down in the places where most short video is actually watched. TikTok and Instagram bury the copy link option behind a menu, and by the time you have pasted it somewhere you have lost the thread of what you were watching.
The iPhone share sheet removes those steps. It is the panel that appears when you tap Share, the same one you use for AirDrop and Messages. Any app can register itself there, which means a summarizer can receive the video directly from TikTok, YouTube, Instagram or Facebook without the link ever touching your clipboard.
Step by step
- Open the video in its own app: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram or Facebook.
- Tap the Share button. On TikTok and Instagram this is the arrow or the three dots; on YouTube it is the Share item under the player.
- In the row of app icons, tap the summarizer app you want to use.
- The app opens as a small panel on top of the video. It pulls the spoken content, processes it, and shows the summary there.
- Read it, copy it, or open the full app if you want more detail.
The whole flow stays inside the app you were already in. Nothing is pasted, and the video keeps its place.
Which apps support share sheet summarizing
Not every summarizer offers this. Many are built around a paste box, which means you are back to copying links. As of 2026 the two that lead with the share sheet are:
- SenseIT: summarizes and translates in the same pass, which matters when the video is in a language you do not speak. Covers YouTube, TikTok, Instagram Reels and Facebook, with 33 output languages and seven levels of detail, from a two sentence recap to a full breakdown.
- Gist AI: focused on turning shared pages, PDFs and YouTube links into short Markdown summaries. Strong if you mostly summarize English content and want a compact output.
If you only ever watch English YouTube, either will do. If you regularly hit videos in another language, the difference is whether the app translates as well as summarizes, because a summary of a Spanish video is not much use to you in Spanish.
When the app does not appear in the share sheet
This trips up almost everyone the first time. iOS hides apps in the share sheet until you enable them.
- Tap Share on any video.
- Scroll the row of app icons all the way to the right and tap More.
- Tap Edit in the top corner.
- Switch the app on, and drag it near the top so it appears without scrolling.
If the app still does not show, open it once from the home screen first. iOS only registers a share extension after the app has been launched at least once.
What works and what does not
Share sheet summarizing depends on the video having a spoken track. A few limits worth knowing before you try:
- Music only clips cannot be summarized. If nobody speaks, there is nothing to transcribe.
- Private and restricted videos usually fail. If the app cannot reach the video without logging in as you, it cannot read it.
- Very long videos take longer. A three minute Reel is near instant; a two hour podcast needs a moment.
- Accuracy tracks audio quality. Heavy background noise and crosstalk degrade the transcript, and the summary inherits that.
Which platforms this covers
The share sheet is a system feature, so it works from any app that offers a Share button. In practice the four that matter for video are YouTube, including Shorts, TikTok, Instagram Reels and Facebook. The method is identical in each: tap Share, pick the app, read the result.