New features in WatchOS 26 with configurable widgets make it more important than ever that apps adopt IntentConfiguration options where applicable.
I develop an app with an Apple Watch complication/widget on many many user's Watch faces around the world. I've completed updating my code to support WidgetKit and remove ClockKit.
However, I face huge issues adding support for users to configure their widget/complications.
If I update a widget to go from StaticConfiguration to IntentConfiguration, even when keeping the "kind" string the same, the widget disappears from the Watch face.
This is an unacceptable user experience meaning I can't proceed with the migration. The problem is users will expect me to offer configuration in the Watch face soon for their widget/complication. Currently this process is done in a sub-optimal way in the app itself.
A similar issue exists on iOS where the widget will just "freeze" indefinitely is migrated.
This issue still occurs on the iOS 26 and WatchOS 26 betas.
So how to move this forward.
This has been discussed previously here: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/661247
I've mentioned it at WidgetKit labs
I've filed feedback last year: FB13880020
I've filed feedback this year: FB18180368
It seems really important this gets fixed for developers to adopt these new features, is there any other migration route I'm missing or a workaround that would mitigate this seemingly big problem.
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I'm trying to create two widgets, widget A and B.
Currently A and B are very similar so they share the same Intent and Intent Timeline Provider.
I use the Intent Configuration interface to set a parameter, in this example lets say its the background tint.
On one of the widgets, widget A, I want to also set another String enum parameter (for a timescale), but I don't want this option to be there for widget B as it's not relevant.
I'm aware of some of the options for configuring the ParameterSummary, but none that let me pass in or inject the "kind" string (or widget ID) of the widget that's being modified.
I'll try to provide some code for examples.
My Widget Definition (targeting >= iOS 17)
struct WidgetA: Widget {
// I'd like to access this parameter within the intent
let kind: String = "WidgetA"
var body: some WidgetConfiguration {
AppIntentConfiguration(kind: kind, intent: WidgetIntent.self, provider: IntentTimelineProvider()) { entry in
WidgetView(data: entry)
}
.configurationDisplayName("Widget A")
.description("A widget.")
.supportedFamilies([.systemMedium, .systemLarge])
}
}
struct WidgetB: Widget {
let kind: String = "WidgetB"
var body: some WidgetConfiguration {
AppIntentConfiguration(kind: kind, intent: WidgetIntent.self, provider: IntentTimelineProvider()) { entry in
WidgetView(data: entry)
}
.configurationDisplayName("Widget B")
.description("B widget.")
.supportedFamilies([.systemMedium, .systemLarge])
}
}
struct IntentTimelineProvider: AppIntentTimelineProvider {
typealias Entry = WidgetIntentTimelineEntry
typealias Intent = WidgetIntent
........
}
struct WidgetIntent: AppIntent, WidgetConfigurationIntent {
// This intent allows configuration of the widget background
// This intent also allows for the widget to display interactive buttons for changing the Trend Type
static var title: LocalizedStringResource = "Widget Configuration"
static var description = IntentDescription("Description.")
static var isDiscoverable: Bool { return false}
init() {}
init(trend:String) {
self.trend = trend
}
// Used for implementing interactive Widget
func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult {
print("WidgetIntent perform \(trend)")
#if os(iOS)
WidgetState.setState(type: trend)
#endif
return .result()
}
@Parameter(title: "Trend Type", default: "Trend")
var trend:String
// I only want to show this parameter for Widget A and not Widget B
@Parameter(title: "Trend Timescale", default: .week)
var timescale: TimescaleTypeAppEnum?
@Parameter(title: "Background Tint", default: BackgroundTintTypeAppEnum.none)
var backgroundTint: BackgroundTintTypeAppEnum?
static var parameterSummary: some ParameterSummary {
// Summary("Test Info") {
// \.$timescale
// \.$backgroundTint
// }
// An example of a configurable widget parameter summary, but not based of kind/ID string
When(\.$backgroundTint, .equalTo, BackgroundTintTypeAppEnum.none) {
Summary("Test Info") {
\.$timescale
\.$backgroundTint
}
} otherwise : {
Summary("Test Info") {
\.$backgroundTint
}
}
}
}
enum TimescaleTypeAppEnum: String, AppEnum {
case week
case fortnight
static var typeDisplayRepresentation = TypeDisplayRepresentation(name: "Trend Timescale")
static var caseDisplayRepresentations: [Self: DisplayRepresentation] = [
.week: "Past Week",
.fortnight: "Past Fortnight"
]
}
enum BackgroundTintTypeAppEnum: String, AppEnum {
case blue
case none
static var typeDisplayRepresentation = TypeDisplayRepresentation(name: "Background Tint")
static var caseDisplayRepresentations: [Self: DisplayRepresentation] = [
.none: "None (Default)",
.blue: "Blue"
]
}
I know I could achieve what I'm after by having a separate Intent and separate IntentTimelineProvider for each widget. But this all seems unnessecary for just a simple optional parameter based on what widget its configuring.... unless I'm missing the point about Intents, Widgets or something!
I've done a fair bit of other searching but can't find an answer to this overall scenario.
Many thanks for any help.
I'm looking to maximise my Watch app's widget to be as up to date as possible.
If we imagined the app was a simple step counter, and we wanted to display the users count as up to date as possible. We can conclude:
We don't care about widget timelines beyond the current entry as we can't predict the future!
We need to refresh the count as often as possible
The refresh should be very quick with a straightforward HealthKit query, no networking or heavy work needed.
We will assume the user has the complication/widget on their active Watch face.
With the standard WidgetKit APIs we can expire the timeline after 15 minutes and in my experimentation a Watch app can usually update its widget timeline at that frequency if it's on the Watch face.
I'm experimenting with two methods to try and improve refreshes further
A user's step count might not have recently changed when the timeline update is called. I was therefore looking into the HealthKit enableBackgroundDelivery API (which requires the HealthKit Background Delivery entitlement to be enabled) to get updates limited to once an hour from a HKObserverQuery, I can then call the WidgetCenter.shared.reloadAllTimelines() from there.
WatchOS also support the BGAppRefreshTaskRequest(identifier:"") and .backgroundTask(.appRefresh) APIs. I can request updates once every 15 minutes here too and then call the WidgetCenter.shared.reloadAllTimelines().
With option 1, this update opportunity is great as it will specifically update when there's new steps so even once an hour this would be helpful (A real shame to be limited to once an hour even if this used up WidgetKit standard reload budgets: FB13879817, FB11677132, FB10016177). But I can't determine if this update takes away one of the standard timeline expiration updates that already run 4 times an hour? Could I observe additional Health types to get additional updates? Do I need the Background Modes Capability as well as the HealthKit Background Delivery for this in Xcode or just the HealthKit one?
With option 2, I can't find a suitable option in the (short) list of supported background modes in Xcode. Does not selecting any mean my app will get 0 refreshes from this route and so should not be implemented in my use case?
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Widgets & Live Activities
Tags:
WatchKit
HealthKit
WidgetKit
Background Tasks
In WatchOS 26 you can now configure Apple Watch Widgets that use AppIntents instead of having a preconfigured option via AppIntentRecommendation.
This is demonstrated in the Weather Details Widget. In that, the Intent has been set up such that the options have icons for each parameter.
How can I update my Intent code to offer this?
struct DataPointsWidgetIntent: AppIntent, WidgetConfigurationIntent {
static var title: LocalizedStringResource = "Data Points Widget Configuration"
static var description = IntentDescription("Configure the individual data point display for Widgets.")
static var isDiscoverable: Bool { return false}
init() {}
func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult {
print("DataPointsWidgetIntent perform")
return .result()
}
@Parameter(title: "Show Individual Data Points", default: true)
var showDataPoints: Bool?
@Parameter(title: "Trend Timescale", default: .week)
var timescale: TimescaleTypeAppEnum?
static var parameterSummary: some ParameterSummary {
Summary("Test Info") {
\.$showDataPoints
\.$timescale
}
}
}
enum TimescaleTypeAppEnum: String, AppEnum {
case week
case fortnight
static var typeDisplayRepresentation = TypeDisplayRepresentation(name: "Trend Timescale")
static var caseDisplayRepresentations: [Self: DisplayRepresentation] = [
.week: "Past Week",
.fortnight: "Past Fortnight"
]
}
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Widgets & Live Activities
Tags:
WidgetKit
Intents
WeatherKit
App Intents
I have a Health & Fitness widget that runs on iPhone and Apple Watch. As Health data access requires the device to be unlocked, the iPhone widget is already slightly limited in capability because of updates.
With widgets further expanding to places like CarPlay, I know I can use the .disfavouredLocations{} API to try and prevent it being offered there. This is crucial as the widget functionality would be basically non-existent as your device is locked during CarPlay use.
My problem is, on the Mac despite using the .disfavouredLocations{.iPhoneWidgetsOnMac} etc...., the widget can still be added in the "other unsupported section". And yet, in that section the Apple Fitness app widget is no where to be seen. Is there an API I am missing to completely remove a widget from the Mac widget gallery and hopefully CarPlay, Standby etc.... (all places where the device running the widget is usually locked -> No Health data)?
Or does the Apple Fitness app have a private API to block it from these places where its function is not wanted and this isn't available to other apps?
I'm trying to make a Swift Chart where 24 AreaMarks an hour apart on X axis over a day display a vertical gradient.
The gradient is vertical and is essentially [Color.opacity(0.1),Colour,Color.opacity(0.1]
The idea here is where the upper and lower points of each AreaMark are the same or close to each other in the Y axis, the chart essentially displays a line, where they are far apart you get a nice fading vertical gradient.
However, it seems that the .alignsMarkStylesWithPlotArea modifier is always set for AreaMarks even if manually applying it false.
Investigating further, I've learnt that with AreaMarks in a series, Swift Charts seems to only listen to the first foreground style set in. I've created some sample code to demonstrate this.
struct DemoChartView: View {
var body: some View {
Chart {
AreaMark(x: .value("Time", Date().addingTimeInterval(0)), yStart: .value("1", 40), yEnd: .value("2", 60))
.foregroundStyle(LinearGradient(colors: [.pink, .teal], startPoint: .top, endPoint: .bottom))
.alignsMarkStylesWithPlotArea(false)
AreaMark(x: .value("Time", Date().addingTimeInterval(3600)), yStart: .value("1", 44), yEnd: .value("2", 58))
.foregroundStyle(LinearGradient(colors: [.orange, .yellow], startPoint: .top, endPoint: .bottom))
.alignsMarkStylesWithPlotArea(false)
AreaMark(x: .value("Time", Date().addingTimeInterval(03600*2)), yStart: .value("1", 50), yEnd: .value("2", 90))
.foregroundStyle(LinearGradient(colors: [.green, .blue], startPoint: .top, endPoint: .bottom))
.alignsMarkStylesWithPlotArea(false)
}
}
}
Which produces this:
So here, all the different .foregroundStyle LinearGradients are being ignored AND the .alignsMarkStylesWithPlotArea(false) is also ignored - the amount of pink on the first mark is different to the second and third 🤷♂️
Has anyone encountered this. Are AreaMarks the correct choice or are they just not setup to create this type of data display. Thanks
Anyone who has successfully migrated to using WidgetKit for their Apple Watch complications, your help would be greatly appreciated!
I've migrated to WidgetKit for my Watch app. On the Apple Watch Face Editor, the new Widget names and options appear correctly.
However, on the iPhone Apple Watch app, it offers both WidgetKit and old ClockKit complications... this should not be.
I also have found rendering issues where Watch Faces on the main My Watch tab have blank gaps for WidgetKit complications, when selecting the Watch Face they then render (see photos)
I've put in a feedback FB12460375
Have tried a full clear and reinstall of my app on both devices, no change. This issue occurs on WatchOS 9.5.2 / iOS 16.5.1 and WatchOS 10 Beta 2 / iOS 17 Beta 2
Any other ideas?
I ran into a problem recently with my production app and an update for iOS 18. In this example I was using a new API added to the RC candidate of iOS 18.0, using this API as an example, I couldn't find a satisfactory way to avoid crashing on iOS 18.1 where the API was not available. I had plenty of users running the iOS 18.1 Beta and ultimately it's my fault if a version of my app did work, and then didn't after an update....
This code causes a crash on iOS 18.1 beta as the .appleSleepingBreathingDisturbances API doesn't seem to have made it's way into the beta:
if #available(iOS 18.0, *), #available(watchOS 11, *) {
healthKitTypesToRead.insert(HKQuantityType.quantityType(forIdentifier: .appleSleepingBreathingDisturbances)!)
}
I tried this but it still crashed on 18.1:
if #available(iOS 18.0, *), #available(watchOS 11, *) {
if let newQuantity = HKQuantityType.quantityType(forIdentifier: .appleSleepingBreathingDisturbances) {
healthKitTypesToRead.insert(newQuantity)
}
}
In the end the only way I could resolve this was the following:
if #available(iOS 18.1, *){
// Do nothing
}
else if #available(iOS 18.0, *), #available(watchOS 11, *) {
if let newQuantity = HKQuantityType.quantityType(forIdentifier: .appleSleepingBreathingDisturbances) {
healthKitTypesToRead.insert(newQuantity)
}
}
This seems like a poor solution and I'll have to ensure I release a new version of the app once iOS 18.1 has the available API added to enable support for the feature.
How could I have checked availability for this API correctly without causing the app to crash? I'm asking this question more as a Swift language feature rather than issue with the specific API as I'm sure that will get resolved soon anyway.
Thanks
I’m having an issue with my published iPad app on the App Store where a selection of users (but not all) are finding they are unable to download my app on their iPad.
The app recently was updated to support only devices Running iOS/iPadOS 17 and also added iPad support as HealthKit is available there now.
The App Store listing correctly shows it as compatible but for some reasons user still see incompatibility messages.
This makes no sense as the app has been full built and tested on iPad and a lot of users are using it fine. All the iPads in question are running ipadOS 17 too. I can only assume this is a bug but I thought I’d post here in case maybe I had an Xcode build setting wrong or something.
Thank You
Topic:
App Store Distribution & Marketing
SubTopic:
App Store Connect
Tags:
App Store
iPadOS
Xcode
HealthKit
Is there any approach or sample code available to use these APIs:
.chartScrollableAxes(.horizontal)
.chartScrollPosition(x: ...)
.chartScrollPosition(initialX: ...)
.chartScrollTargetBehavior(...)
.chartXVisibleDomain(length: ...)
Plus a gesture recognised or Pinch or Magnification to create a Swift Chart with an X axis that can be zoomed in or out with a pinch gesture? And when zoomed in at any level above 0, the chart can then be scrolled left to right along the X axis.
I've had success using .chartScrollableAxes with .chartXSelection in parallel, so would also like to keep the ability to select X values too.
I've been seeing warning like the following with my Apple Watch app:
=== AttributeGraph: cycle detected through attribute 140952 ===
=== AttributeGraph: cycle detected through attribute 131640 ===
=== AttributeGraph: cycle detected through attribute 131640 ===
=== AttributeGraph: cycle detected through attribute 131640 ===
=== AttributeGraph: cycle detected through attribute 131640 ===
=== AttributeGraph: cycle detected through attribute 131640 ===
=== AttributeGraph: cycle detected through attribute 131640 ===
I've done some debugging with Instruments and Xcode, I've determined that its caused by adding a
.toolbar {
ToolbarItemGroup(placement: .topBarTrailing) {
Label("Stop", systemImage: "xmark")
}
}
to an item within my NavigationSplitView List Destination view.
To aid reproduction of this issue even more, I've verified the same warning occurs with the Apple sample code from the WWDC23 Backyard Birds app.
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/swiftui/backyard-birds-sample?changes=_9
If you take the Apple sample code, open it in Xcode 15.4 and run it in the Apple Watch WatchOS 10.5 simulator, then select the Bird Springs item, all is well.
If you then add the above toolbar code to the BackyardSummaryTab file at the bottom of the VStack, you'll see the same AttributeGraph issues I'm seeing in my app.
Is this a bug? I can't understand why adding a static ToolBarItem in WatchOS is causing this.
I've seen this issue in the simulator and also on device.
It's fairly well know and stated that the Apple Health / HealthKit data store is unavailable when iPhone is locked.
Since Lock Screen Widgets were introduced there's been a feature parity mismatch with Apple's own Fitness app which is able to display updating Activity Rings on the Lock Screen. Third party apps cannot do this and have to rely unlocking their device to then trigger an update. This means they often display stale and wrong Health data.
With the release of iOS 18 beta, I see no changes to this... Is there anything I've missed?
Currently for requesting the Timeline Updates on my Widget I have to just keep requesting updates as often as possible and hope that each time the iPhone might be unlocked.... This is inefficient and a waste of device resources. Even a Widget timeline reload API that let the developer say "Only call update if iPhone unlocked" would be useful.
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
Tags:
iOS
Health and Fitness
HealthKit
WidgetKit
I'm looking to migrate my users ClockKit complications to WidgetKit in my next app update. I can only do this for WatchOS 10 users because the APIs are too limited for WatchOS 9 (eg. Widget corner round text not available). But I do need to do this for WatchOS 10 users in order to get in the Smart Stack.
When I tried to mark my getWidgetConfiguration method in my ComplicationController.swift with:
@available(watchOS 10.0, *)
it complains and says: Protocol 'CLKComplicationWidgetMigrator' requires 'getWidgetConfiguration(from:completionHandler:)' to be available in watchOS 9.0 and newer
I then tried modifying my WidgetKit extension to only support WatchOS 10. This seems to work for a while but at some point WatchOS 9 devices still try the migration and crash with symbolNotFound DYLD issues for the WidgetKit extension which shouldn't even be embedded in the WatchOS 9 builds! (all visible in iPhone Analytics data crashes)
So I'm not sure what else to try. I've researched a lot in docs etc... but can find no official way to achieve this.
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
watchOS
WidgetKit
wwdc2023-10029
wwdc2023-10309
How can I open the user's Health Privacy Settings directly from my app when I'd like them to review them?
I believe similar questions have been asked before like this one: https://forums.developer.apple.com/forums/thread/730434
However, I'm wondering if the situation is changed for iOS 17 or if there's a way that works for Health permissions.
This is directly possible in the Garmin Connect app for example which is a major app on the store.
I'm seeing problems with the new Apple Watch Modular Ultra Watch face...
This is all using the latest WatchOS 10.1 and with WidgetKit complications. (Have also tested with the new WatchOS 10.2 beta in the simulator)
The Graphic Circular (accessoryCircular) complications space the numbers differently sometimes causing maximum and minimum numbers to look like one long number (see small circular complications in screenshot)
The exact same complication in the accessoryRectangular on the Modular Ultra face clips text when it doesn't on any other watch face
I've filed feedback FB13344580
Hopefully the screenshots show the issue well.