What is app intents?
Generated on 8/1/2024
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App Intents is a framework introduced by Apple that allows developers to expose the core features and functionalities of their apps to the system, enabling them to be accessed and used outside the app itself. This includes integration with system features like Siri, Spotlight, Shortcuts, and more.
Key Points about App Intents:
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Definition and Purpose:
- App Intents are designed to surface app functionality to the system, allowing users to interact with app features through various system experiences such as Siri, Spotlight, and Shortcuts (Design App Intents for system experiences).
- They consist of a summary of what they do, starting with the app followed by a verb, and include the necessary parameters for execution (Design App Intents for system experiences).
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Framework and Integration:
- App Intents is not a standalone feature but a common foundation for building features that integrate with system services (Bring your app’s core features to users with App Intents).
- They allow the system to understand and present the app's core actions and content outside the app (Bring your app’s core features to users with App Intents).
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Design and Structure:
- Developers should design app intents to be flexible and readable across many configurations and use cases (Design App Intents for system experiences).
- It's important to avoid creating multiple intents for the same task and instead use parameters to handle variations (Design App Intents for system experiences).
- App intents should represent underlying tasks rather than specific UI elements (Design App Intents for system experiences).
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Implementation:
- In the app intents framework, a shortcut action is an intent, and all intents appear by default as actions in the Shortcuts app (Bring your app’s core features to users with App Intents).
- Intents should have a localizable title and a perform method that executes the action (Bring your app’s core features to users with App Intents).
Relevant Sessions:
For more detailed guidance, you can refer to the sessions mentioned above.
Bring your app’s core features to users with App Intents
Learn the principles of the App Intents framework, like intents, entities, and queries, and how you can harness them to expose your app’s most important functionality right where people need it most. Find out how to build deep integration between your app and the many system features built on top of App Intents, including Siri, controls and widgets, Apple Pencil, Shortcuts, the Action button, and more. Get tips on how to build your App Intents integrations efficiently to create the best experiences in every surface while still sharing code and core functionality.
Design App Intents for system experiences
App Intents power system experiences in controls, Spotlight, Siri, and more. Find out how to identify the functionality that’s best for App Intents, and how to use parameters to make these intents flexible. Learn how to use App Intents to allow people to take action outside your app, and see examples of when to navigate into your app to show contextual information.