iOS System Integration

iOS System Integration

Siri, Shortcuts, Handoff, drag and drop, and other system-level integrations.

Table of Contents

1. Siri Integration
2. Shortcuts App Integration
3. Handoff
4. Drag and Drop
5. Universal Links
6. Spotlight Search
7. Focus & Notifications
8. Quick Note Integration
9. SharePlay
10. System Appearance
11. Best Practices Summary

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Siri Integration

SiriKit Domains

Your app can integrate with Siri through predefined domains:

Domain	Example Intents
Messaging	Send message, search messages
Lists & Notes	Create note, add to list
Payments	Send payment, request payment
Workouts	Start workout, end workout
Media	Play media, add to library
Ride booking	Request ride, get ride status
Car commands	Lock car, get car status
Visual codes	Look up barcode, QR code

Designing for Voice

Confirmation dialogs:

Siri: "Send $50 to Sarah for dinner?"
User: "Yes" / "Change amount" / "Cancel"

Guidelines:

• Confirm significant actions
• Allow easy correction
• Provide visual feedback alongside voice
• Handle ambiguity gracefully

Custom Intents

For actions not in predefined domains:

// Define in Intents.intentdefinition
Intent: OrderCoffee
Parameters: coffeeType, size, location

Best practices:

• Use descriptive parameter names
• Provide good examples
• Support synonyms
• Test with various phrasings

Siri Shortcuts

Allow users to create custom voice triggers:

// Donate shortcut when user completes action
let activity = NSUserActivity(activityType: "com.app.order-favorite")
activity.title = "Order my usual coffee"
activity.isEligibleForSearch = true
activity.isEligibleForPrediction = true
activity.suggestedInvocationPhrase = "Order my usual"

view.userActivity = activity

Guidelines:

• Donate shortcuts for repeated actions
• Suggest clear invocation phrases
• Provide relevant parameters
• Test in Shortcuts app

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Shortcuts App Integration

App Shortcuts (iOS 16+)

Pre-built shortcuts that appear automatically:

struct MyAppShortcuts: AppShortcutsProvider {
    static var appShortcuts: [AppShortcut] {
        AppShortcut(
            intent: OrderCoffeeIntent(),
            phrases: [
                "Order coffee with \(.applicationName)",
                "Get my usual from \(.applicationName)"
            ],
            shortTitle: "Order Coffee",
            systemImageName: "cup.and.saucer.fill"
        )
    }
}

Shortcut Actions

Expose app functionality as Shortcuts actions:

Good candidates:

• Actions users repeat frequently
• Actions that can run without UI
• Data that can be passed to other apps
• Automatable workflows

Design considerations:

• Clear action names (verb + object)
• Meaningful parameters with defaults
• Useful outputs for chaining
• Error messages that explain what went wrong

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Handoff

Enabling Handoff

Allow users to continue activities across Apple devices:

let activity = NSUserActivity(activityType: "com.app.viewing-item")
activity.title = "Viewing Product: \(product.name)"
activity.userInfo = ["productID": product.id]
activity.isEligibleForHandoff = true
activity.webpageURL = URL(string: "https://myapp.com/product/\(product.id)")

userActivity = activity

Handoff Guidelines

Do:

• Continue at exactly where user left off
• Restore scroll position, form state, etc.
• Support universal links as fallback
• Update activity as context changes

Don't:

• Require re-authentication
• Lose user's work
• Show significantly different content

Web Fallback

If app isn't installed on receiving device:

activity.webpageURL = URL(string: "https://myapp.com/activity/\(id)")

---

Drag and Drop

Supporting Drag

.draggable(item) {
    // Drag preview
    ItemPreview(item: item)
}

Supporting Drop

.dropDestination(for: ItemType.self) { items, location in
    // Handle dropped items
    return true
}

Drag and Drop Guidelines

Visual feedback:

• Show clear drag preview
• Indicate valid drop targets
• Animate transitions smoothly

Multi-item:

• Support selecting multiple items
• Stack preview for multiple items
• Handle batch operations

Cross-app:

• Export standard data types (images, text, URLs)
• Accept common formats
• Maintain quality during transfer

Platform Considerations

Platform	Drag Initiation
iPhone	Long press + drag (within app)
iPad	Long press or tap + drag
Mac (Catalyst)	Click + drag

---

Universal Links

Setting Up

1. Configure apple-app-site-association on your server:

{
  "applinks": {
    "apps": [],
    "details": [{
      "appID": "TEAMID.com.example.app",
      "paths": ["/product/*", "/user/*"]
    }]
  }
}

2. Add Associated Domains capability:

applinks:example.com

Handling Links

func application(_ application: UIApplication,
                 continue userActivity: NSUserActivity,
                 restorationHandler: @escaping ([UIUserActivityRestoring]?) -> Void) -> Bool {
    guard userActivity.activityType == NSUserActivityTypeBrowsingWeb,
          let url = userActivity.webpageURL else {
        return false
    }
    return handleUniversalLink(url)
}

Best Practices

• Parse URLs robustly (handle malformed links)
• Navigate to appropriate screen
• Show content immediately (don't require login first)
• Fall back gracefully if content unavailable

---

Spotlight Search

Indexing Content

let attributeSet = CSSearchableItemAttributeSet(contentType: .text)
attributeSet.title = item.title
attributeSet.contentDescription = item.description
attributeSet.thumbnailData = item.thumbnailData

let searchableItem = CSSearchableItem(
    uniqueIdentifier: item.id,
    domainIdentifier: "com.app.items",
    attributeSet: attributeSet
)

CSSearchableIndex.default().indexSearchableItems([searchableItem])

What to Index

Good candidates:

• User content (notes, documents)
• Saved items (favorites, history)
• Frequently accessed items

Avoid:

• Sensitive data
• Transient content
• Every possible item (be selective)

Search Result Design

Results appear in Spotlight:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 🔲 My Note Title                        │
│    Preview of note content...           │
│    MyApp                                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Include:

• Clear title
• Helpful description
• Thumbnail if visual
• Accurate metadata

---

Focus & Notifications

Focus Awareness

Respect user's Focus mode:

UNUserNotificationCenter.current().getNotificationSettings { settings in
    if settings.notificationCenterSetting == .disabled {
        // User has notifications silenced
    }
}

Time Sensitive Notifications

For truly urgent notifications:

let content = UNMutableNotificationContent()
content.title = "Your ride is here"
content.interruptionLevel = .timeSensitive

Use only when:

• Immediate action required
• User explicitly opted in
• Content is genuinely time-sensitive

---

Quick Note Integration

Adding Quick Note Capability

Allow highlighting content for Quick Note:

Text(content)
    .contextMenu {
        Button("Add to Quick Note") {
            // System handles this
        }
    }

---

SharePlay

When to Use SharePlay

• Watching content together
• Collaborative activities
• Shared experiences

SharePlay Guidelines

Sync state:

• Keep all participants in sync
• Handle network latency gracefully
• Provide individual controls where appropriate

Visual design:

• Show who's in the session
• Indicate when others interact
• Provide easy leave option

---

System Appearance

Supporting Dark Mode

// Adaptive colors
Color.primary      // Auto light/dark
Color.secondary    // Auto light/dark

// Custom adaptive colors
extension Color {
    static let background = Color("Background") // From asset catalog
}

Supporting Dynamic Type

Text("Title")
    .font(.title)      // Scales with Dynamic Type

// Custom scalable fonts
.font(.custom("MyFont", size: 17, relativeTo: .body))

Supporting Accessibility

Text("Content")
    .accessibilityLabel("Detailed description")
    .accessibilityHint("Tap to view details")

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Best Practices Summary

Integration	Key Consideration
Siri	Clear confirmation, handle ambiguity
Shortcuts	Expose repeatable, automatable actions
Handoff	Preserve exact state across devices
Drag & Drop	Clear previews, multi-item support
Universal Links	Deep link to specific content
Spotlight	Index valuable, non-sensitive content
Focus	Respect user's notification preferences

Universal principle: System integrations should feel seamless—users shouldn't think about which device or app they're using.