diff --git a/src/routes/_actions/showShareDialogIfNecessary.js b/src/routes/_actions/showShareDialogIfNecessary.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c720744
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/routes/_actions/showShareDialogIfNecessary.js
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import { store } from '../_store/store'
+import { importShowComposeDialog } from '../_components/dialog/asyncDialogs'
+
+export async function showShareDialogIfNecessary () {
+  let { isUserLoggedIn, openShareDialog } = store.get()
+  store.set({ openShareDialog: false })
+  if (isUserLoggedIn && openShareDialog) {
+    let showComposeDialog = await importShowComposeDialog()
+    showComposeDialog()
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/routes/_pages/index.html b/src/routes/_pages/index.html
index 60d91e9..ab73c22 100644
--- a/src/routes/_pages/index.html
+++ b/src/routes/_pages/index.html
@@ -7,9 +7,28 @@
   import NotLoggedInHome from '../_components/NotLoggedInHome.html'
   import { store } from '../_store/store.js'
   import TimelineHomePage from '../_components/TimelineHomePage.html'
+  import { observe } from 'svelte-extras'
+  import { showShareDialogIfNecessary } from '../_actions/showShareDialogIfNecessary'
 
   export default {
+    async oncreate () {
+      let observed = false
+      this.observe('currentVerifyCredentials', verifyCredentials => {
+        if (verifyCredentials && !observed) {
+          // when the verifyCredentials object is available, we can check to see
+          // if the user is trying to share something, then share it
+          observed = true
+          /* no await */ showShareDialogIfNecessary()
+        }
+      })
+    },
     store: () => store,
+    computed: {
+      currentVerifyCredentials: ({ $currentVerifyCredentials }) => $currentVerifyCredentials
+    },
+    methods: {
+      observe
+    },
     components: {
       NotLoggedInHome,
       TimelineHomePage
diff --git a/src/routes/_store/observers/instanceObservers.js b/src/routes/_store/observers/instanceObservers.js
index 6399cee..aeebc3f 100644
--- a/src/routes/_store/observers/instanceObservers.js
+++ b/src/routes/_store/observers/instanceObservers.js
@@ -44,13 +44,15 @@ async function doRefreshInstanceDataAndStream (store, instanceName) {
 
 async function refreshInstanceData (instanceName) {
   // these are all low-priority
-  scheduleIdleTask(() => updateVerifyCredentialsForInstance(instanceName))
   scheduleIdleTask(() => updateCustomEmojiForInstance(instanceName))
   scheduleIdleTask(() => updateListsForInstance(instanceName))
   scheduleIdleTask(() => updatePushSubscriptionForInstance(instanceName))
 
-  // this is the only critical one
-  await updateInstanceInfo(instanceName)
+  // these are the only critical ones
+  await Promise.all([
+    updateInstanceInfo(instanceName),
+    updateVerifyCredentialsForInstance(instanceName)
+  ])
 }
 
 function stream (store, instanceName, currentInstanceInfo) {
diff --git a/src/routes/_store/store.js b/src/routes/_store/store.js
index d02c290..1d8560c 100644
--- a/src/routes/_store/store.js
+++ b/src/routes/_store/store.js
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ const nonPersistedState = {
   sensitivesShown: {},
   spoilersShown: {},
   statusModifications: {},
-  verifyCredentials: {}
+  verifyCredentials: {},
+  openShareDialog: false
 }
 
 const state = Object.assign({}, persistedState, nonPersistedState)
diff --git a/src/routes/_utils/decodeURIComponentWithPluses.js b/src/routes/_utils/decodeURIComponentWithPluses.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e9131d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/routes/_utils/decodeURIComponentWithPluses.js
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+// Per the web share target spec: https://wicg.github.io/web-share-target/
+// U+0020 (SPACE) characters are encoded as "+", due to the use of
+// application/x-www-form-urlencoded encoding, not "%20" as might be expected.
+
+export function decodeURIComponentWithPluses (text) {
+  return text.split('+').map(decodeURIComponent).join(' ')
+}
diff --git a/src/routes/share.html b/src/routes/share.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d99c1d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/routes/share.html
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+<!-- this is just used for the web share target API -->
+<script>
+  import { store } from './_store/store'
+  import { goto } from '../../__sapper__/client'
+  import { decodeURIComponentWithPluses } from './_utils/decodeURIComponentWithPluses'
+
+  const SHARE_KEYS = ['title', 'text', 'url']
+
+  export default {
+    store: () => store,
+    oncreate () {
+      let params = new URLSearchParams(location.search)
+
+      let text = SHARE_KEYS
+        .map(key => params.get(key) && decodeURIComponentWithPluses(params.get(key)))
+        .filter(Boolean)
+        .join(' ')
+
+      this.store.set({ openShareDialog: true })
+      this.store.clearComposeData('dialog')
+      this.store.setComposeData('dialog', { text })
+      this.store.save()
+
+      goto('/', { replaceState: true })
+    }
+  }
+</script>
diff --git a/static/manifest.json b/static/manifest.json
index 356e501..73cf7d4 100644
--- a/static/manifest.json
+++ b/static/manifest.json
@@ -6,6 +6,17 @@
   "description": "Alternative web client for Mastodon, focused on speed and simplicity.",
   "display": "standalone",
   "start_url": "/?pwa=true",
+  "share_target": {
+    "action": "/share",
+    "method": "GET",
+    "enctype": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
+    "url_template": "/share?title={title}&text={text}&url={url}",
+    "params": {
+      "title": "title",
+      "text": "text",
+      "url": "url"
+    }
+  },
   "icons": [
     {
       "src": "icon-48.png",
diff --git a/tests/spec/027-share-target.js b/tests/spec/027-share-target.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cefbd82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/spec/027-share-target.js
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import {
+  closeDialogButton,
+  composeModalInput,
+  getUrl, goBack, modalDialog, notificationsNavButton
+} from '../utils'
+import { loginAsFoobar } from '../roles'
+
+fixture`027-share-target.js`
+  .page`http://localhost:4002`
+
+const SHARE_URL = 'http://localhost:4002/share?' +
+  'title=My+cool+title&' +
+  'text=This+is+a+bit+clich%C3%A9&' +
+  'url=http%3A%2F%2Fexample.com'
+
+const SHARE_TEXT = 'My cool title This is a bit cliché http://example.com'
+
+test('Share target works when page is not open', async t => {
+  await loginAsFoobar(t)
+  await t
+    .navigateTo('about:blank')
+    .navigateTo(SHARE_URL)
+    .expect(getUrl()).eql('http://localhost:4002/')
+    .expect(modalDialog.hasAttribute('aria-hidden')).notOk()
+    .expect(composeModalInput.value).eql(SHARE_TEXT)
+})
+
+test('Share target works when page is open', async t => {
+  await loginAsFoobar(t)
+  await t
+    .navigateTo(SHARE_URL)
+    .expect(getUrl()).eql('http://localhost:4002/')
+    .expect(modalDialog.hasAttribute('aria-hidden')).notOk()
+    .expect(composeModalInput.value).eql(SHARE_TEXT)
+})
+
+test('Share target page replaces itself in back nav history', async t => {
+  await loginAsFoobar(t)
+  await t
+    .click(notificationsNavButton)
+    .expect(getUrl()).contains('/notifications')
+    .navigateTo(SHARE_URL)
+    .expect(getUrl()).eql('http://localhost:4002/')
+    .expect(modalDialog.hasAttribute('aria-hidden')).notOk()
+    .expect(composeModalInput.value).eql(SHARE_TEXT)
+    .click(closeDialogButton)
+    .expect(modalDialog.exists).notOk()
+  await goBack()
+  await t
+    .expect(getUrl()).contains('/notifications')
+})
+
+test('Share target does nothing when not logged in', async t => {
+  await t
+    .navigateTo(SHARE_URL)
+    .expect(getUrl()).eql('http://localhost:4002/')
+    .expect(modalDialog.exists).notOk()
+})