Agent skills for iOS, iPadOS, Swift, SwiftUI, and modern Apple framework development.
80
100%
Does it follow best practices?
Run evals on this skill
Adds up to 20 points to the overall score
View guide
Advisory
Suggest reviewing before use
Build shared real-time experiences using the GroupActivities framework. SharePlay connects people over FaceTime, Messages, AirDrop, and nearby visionOS sharing, synchronizing media playback, app state, or custom data.
Add the Group Activities capability to the app target in Xcode. Xcode adds the required entitlement and updates the provisioning profile:
<key>com.apple.developer.group-session</key>
<true/>Configure this only for app targets. Group Activities are not available in widgets, extensions, or App Clips.
import GroupActivities
let observer = GroupStateObserver()
// Check if a FaceTime call or Messages conversation is active
if observer.isEligibleForGroupSession {
showSharePlayButton()
}Observe changes reactively:
for await isEligible in observer.$isEligibleForGroupSession.values {
showSharePlayButton(isEligible)
}Conform to GroupActivity and provide metadata:
import GroupActivities
struct WatchTogetherActivity: GroupActivity {
let movieID: String
let movieTitle: String
var metadata: GroupActivityMetadata {
var meta = GroupActivityMetadata()
meta.title = movieTitle
meta.type = .watchTogether
meta.fallbackURL = URL(string: "https://example.com/movie/\(movieID)")
return meta
}
}| Type | Use Case |
|---|---|
.generic | Default for custom activities |
.watchTogether | Video playback |
.listenTogether | Audio playback |
.createTogether | Collaborative creation (drawing, editing) |
.exploreTogether | Shared browsing, planning, or exploration |
.learnTogether | Shared learning or studying |
.readTogether | Shared reading |
.shopTogether | Shared shopping |
.workoutTogether | Shared fitness sessions |
GroupActivity is Codable; stored activity data must be codable. Add
Transferable only for SwiftUI ShareLink, SharePlay over AirDrop, or
AppKit/UIKit share sheets. Keep payloads minimal: use identifiers or URLs
instead of large data.
Set up a long-lived task to receive sessions when another participant starts the activity:
@Observable
@MainActor
final class SharePlayManager {
private var session: GroupSession<WatchTogetherActivity>?
private var messenger: GroupSessionMessenger?
private var sessionTasks: [Task<Void, Never>] = []
func observeSessions() {
Task {
for await session in WatchTogetherActivity.sessions() {
self.configureSession(session)
}
}
}
private func configureSession(
_ session: GroupSession<WatchTogetherActivity>
) {
self.session = session
self.messenger = GroupSessionMessenger(session: session)
// Observe session state changes
let stateTask = Task {
for await state in session.$state.values {
handleState(state)
}
}
sessionTasks.append(stateTask)
// Observe participant changes
let participantTask = Task {
for await participants in session.$activeParticipants.values {
handleParticipants(participants)
}
}
sessionTasks.append(participantTask)
// Join the session
session.join()
}
private func cleanUp() {
sessionTasks.forEach { $0.cancel() }
sessionTasks.removeAll()
session = nil
messenger = nil
}
}| State | Description |
|---|---|
.waiting | Session exists but local participant has not joined |
.joined | Local participant is actively in the session |
.invalidated(reason:) | Session ended (check reason for details) |
private func handleState(_ state: GroupSession<WatchTogetherActivity>.State) {
switch state {
case .waiting:
print("Waiting to join")
case .joined:
print("Joined session")
loadActivity(session?.activity)
case .invalidated(let reason):
print("Session ended: \(reason)")
cleanUp()
@unknown default:
break
}
}
private func handleParticipants(_ participants: Set<Participant>) {
print("Active participants: \(participants.count)")
}// Leave the session (other participants continue)
session?.leave()
// End the session for all participants
session?.end()Use GroupSessionMessenger to sync small, time-sensitive app state between
participants.
Messages must be Codable; keep each message under 256 KB.
struct SyncMessage: Codable {
let action: String
let timestamp: Date
let data: [String: String]
}func sendSync(_ message: SyncMessage) async throws {
guard let messenger else { return }
try await messenger.send(message, to: .all)
}
// Send to specific participants
try await messenger.send(message, to: .only(participant))func observeMessages() {
guard let messenger else { return }
Task {
for await (message, context) in messenger.messages(of: SyncMessage.self) {
let sender = context.source
handleReceivedMessage(message, from: sender)
}
}
}// Reliable (default) -- checked and retried for crucial state
let reliableMessenger = GroupSessionMessenger(
session: session,
deliveryMode: .reliable
)
// Unreliable -- lower latency, no delivery guarantee
let unreliableMessenger = GroupSessionMessenger(
session: session,
deliveryMode: .unreliable
)Use .reliable for state-changing actions such as selections or turns. Use
.unreliable for high-frequency ephemeral data such as cursor positions,
drawing strokes, and reactions.
For video/audio, use AVPlaybackCoordinator with AVPlayer:
import AVFoundation
import GroupActivities
func configurePlayback(
session: GroupSession<WatchTogetherActivity>,
player: AVPlayer
) {
// Connect the player's coordinator to the session
let coordinator = player.playbackCoordinator
coordinator.coordinateWithSession(session)
}Once connected, AVFoundation synchronizes play/pause, seeking, rate, playback speed, and time. Do not put AVPlayer transport fields in messenger messages or snapshots, including late-joiner snapshots; use custom messages only for state outside playback.
import GroupActivities
import UIKit
func startSharePlay() async throws {
let activity = WatchTogetherActivity(
movieID: "123",
movieTitle: "Great Movie"
)
switch await activity.prepareForActivation() {
case .activationPreferred:
// A conversation is active and the user chose to share.
_ = try await activity.activate()
case .activationDisabled:
// The user chose local playback, or sharing is unavailable.
startLocalExperience()
case .cancelled:
break
@unknown default:
break
}
}When no conversation is active (i.e., isEligibleForGroupSession is false),
use GroupActivitySharingController to let the user pick contacts first:
let controller = try GroupActivitySharingController(activity)
present(controller, animated: true)Use the shareplay SF Symbol for custom controls. Treat GroupActivityMetadata
as discovery copy: concise title, subtitle, image, and type aligned with the
entry point. Keep sibling domains out: GameKit owns auth, matchmaking,
leaderboards, achievements, and voice/chat; TabletopKit owns seats, board
equipment, spatial placement, turns, rules, and authoritative tabletop state;
AVKit owns playback UI. SharePlay owns invitations, lifecycle, participants, and
coordination handoffs. See references/shareplay-patterns.md for SwiftUI ShareLink, AirDrop, and direct activation patterns.
For larger, non-time-sensitive attachments, use GroupSessionJournal instead
of GroupSessionMessenger. Journal items must conform to Transferable, are
available to late joiners, and are limited to 100 MB. It requires iOS/iPadOS/tvOS
17+, macOS 14+, or visionOS 1+. For larger/protected assets, share a pointer or manifest and use server storage or app-managed file transfer.
import GroupActivities
let journal = GroupSessionJournal(session: session)
// Upload a Transferable file or data item
let attachment = try await journal.add(sharedImageItem)
// Observe incoming attachments
Task {
for await attachments in journal.attachments {
for attachment in attachments {
let data = try await attachment.load(Data.self)
handleReceivedFile(data)
}
}
}Configure the stored session, messenger, and observers, then call join(). The
canonical long-lived manager in Session Lifecycle shows the required order.
// WRONG -- session stays alive after the user navigates away
func viewDidDisappear() {
// Nothing -- session leaks
}
// CORRECT -- leave when the view is dismissed
func viewDidDisappear() {
session?.leave()
session = nil
messenger = nil
}// WRONG -- broadcasting state without handling late joiners
func onJoin() {
// New participant has no idea what the current state is
}
// CORRECT -- send full state to new participants
func handleParticipants(_ participants: Set<Participant>) {
let newParticipants = participants.subtracting(knownParticipants)
for participant in newParticipants {
Task {
try await messenger?.send(currentState, to: .only(participant))
}
}
knownParticipants = participants
}// WRONG -- messenger is small/time-sensitive; journal is Transferable and <=100 MB
let imageData = try Data(contentsOf: imageURL) // 300 KB
try await messenger.send(imageData, to: .all) // Too large
// CORRECT -- journal attachments up to 100 MB; otherwise share a pointer/manifest
let journal = GroupSessionJournal(session: session)
try await journal.add(sharedImageItem)
// Larger/protected assets: server storage or app-managed file transfer// WRONG -- manually syncing play/pause when using AVPlayer
func play() {
player.play()
try await messenger.send(PlayMessage(), to: .all)
}
// CORRECT -- let AVPlaybackCoordinator handle it
player.playbackCoordinator.coordinateWithSession(session)
player.play() // Automatically synced to all participantsOwn the sessions() listener in a long-lived manager, not a recreatable view.
Use the manager lifecycle shown above and cancel its child tasks on invalidation.
GroupActivity struct is Codable with meaningful metadataTransferable conformance added when using ShareLink, AirDrop, or share sheetssessions() observed in a long-lived object (not a SwiftUI view body)session.join() called after receiving and configuring the sessionsession.leave() called when the user navigates away or dismissesGroupSessionMessenger messages stay under 256 KB with appropriate deliveryMode$state and $activeParticipants publishers observed for lifecycle changesGroupSessionJournal used for non-time-sensitive Transferable attachmentsAVPlaybackCoordinator used for media sync (not manual messages)GroupStateObserver.isEligibleForGroupSession checked before showing SharePlay UIGroupActivitySharingController used when no conversation is active.tessl-plugin
skills
accessorysetupkit
references
activitykit
references
adattributionkit
references
alarmkit
references
app-clips
app-intents
app-store-optimization
app-store-review
apple-on-device-ai
appmigrationkit
references
audioaccessorykit
references
authentication
references
avkit
references
background-processing
references
browserenginekit
references
callkit
references
carplay
references
cloudkit
references
contacts-framework
references
core-bluetooth
references
core-data
core-motion
references
core-nfc
references
coreml
references
cryptokit
references
cryptotokenkit
references
debugging-instruments
device-integrity
references
dockkit
references
energykit
references
eventkit
references
financekit
references
focus-engine
gamekit
references
healthkit
references
homekit
references
ios-accessibility
ios-ettrace-performance
ios-localization
ios-memgraph-analysis
ios-networking
ios-simulator
references
mapkit
metrickit
references
musickit
references
natural-language
references
paperkit
references
passkit
references
pdfkit
references
pencilkit
references
permissionkit
references
photokit
push-notifications
realitykit
references
relevancekit
references
scenekit
references
sensorkit
references
speech-recognition
references
spritekit
references
storekit
swift-api-design-guidelines
swift-architecture
references
swift-charts
references
swift-codable
references
swift-concurrency
swift-formatstyle
references
swift-language
swift-security
references
swift-testing
swiftdata
swiftlint
swiftui-animation
swiftui-gestures
references
swiftui-layout-components
swiftui-liquid-glass
references
swiftui-patterns
swiftui-performance
swiftui-uikit-interop
swiftui-webkit
tabletopkit
references
tipkit
references
vision-framework
weatherkit
references
widgetkit
references