How to Future-Proof Your iOS App With App Intents

🗣️ Voice Commands

With App Intents, Siri becomes a direct line to your app’s functionality. Users can perform specific actions such as booking a service, reordering a product, or checking the status of an order with a simple voice command. This hands-free convenience not only improves accessibility, it turns your app into a more indispensable part of users’ daily life.

⚡ Shortcuts

Shortcuts take this concept further by letting users create custom workflows tailored to their needs. A user could set up a shortcut to instantly check their loyalty points balance or schedule recurring orders with just one tap. These shortcuts integrate directly with Apple’s ecosystem, meaning they’re always just a swipe or a tap away in Spotlight or on the Home Screen.

🔍 Spotlight Search

App Intents also improve discoverability by surfacing app actions directly in Spotlight. Users don’t even need to open your app to interact with it — Spotlight search results can display context-aware actions that save time and make your app feel smarter and more intuitive.

These features create a smoother, more engaging experience for users. And with Apple Intelligence, your app’s actions can be surfaced proactively when they’re most relevant.

Define Your App's Key Actions

Start by identifying the core tasks your app performs that users would benefit from accessing quickly. These should be high-value, repetitive actions that improve user convenience. For example, a delivery app might highlight the ability to reorder past purchases or track current orders.

Integrate With Siri and Spotlight

Apple’s SDK allows developers to easily integrate their applications with Siri and Spotlight. Assistant schemas enable Siri to understand actions within your app, while searchable items allow Spotlight to surface content from your app in search results across iOS. These integrations create seamless entry points for users.

Build for Apple Intelligence

Building App Intents ensures that Apple Intelligence can analyze and surface your app’s functionality effectively. When integrated with Siri and Spotlight, App Intents enable in-app search actions and provide Apple Intelligence with the context it needs to suggest relevant shortcuts and actions to users at just the right time.

Keep the User Experience Front and Center

Always design App Intents with the end user in mind. Test how these features fit into real-world workflows and make sure they feel natural and valuable.

Building for Apple’s hardware can further enhance the user experience: App Intents can be triggered by tools like the Apple Pencil or the new Action Button, allowing users to interact with your app in totally new and intuitive ways.

Smarter, More Personalized Interactions

App Intents make it possible to anticipate user needs and surface app actions at exactly the right time. Whether it’s a shortcut to check delivery status or a voice command to schedule an appointment, these intelligent features create a personalized experience that feels effortless. With Apple Intelligence leveraging App Intents to analyze user behavior, this level of customization will only become more powerful, ensuring your app stays relevant and useful.

A Seamless Ecosystem

By integrating with Siri, Spotlight, and Shortcuts, App Intents blur the lines between app functionality and system-level features. For users, this means less time navigating and more time accomplishing tasks. For developers, it’s an opportunity to make apps an essential part of daily workflows, leading to higher engagement and retention.

Staying Ahead of User Expectations

User expectations for app functionality are constantly evolving, and App Intents represent a glimpse into the future of how apps will interact with their users. As Apple continues to expand its ecosystem and AI capabilities, building App Intents today ensures your app is ready to meet evolving user expectations and take full advantage of future advances in Apple Intelligence.

🔎   What are App Intents?

App Intents is an Apple framework that enables apps to integrate seamlessly with system features like Siri, Spotlight, and Shortcuts. By defining specific actions, developers can allow users to interact with their apps through voice commands, personalized shortcuts, and search, enhancing accessibility and user engagement.

🔎   What can Apple Intelligence do?

Apple Intelligence is a suite of AI-powered tools designed to create more intuitive and efficient user experiences across Apple devices. It enhances Siri's capabilities, introduces advanced writing tools, enables on-device image generation, and offers features like Genmoji for creating personalized emojis. By leveraging AI, Apple Intelligence aims to make interactions more natural and context-aware.

🔎   How do App Intents and Apple Intelligence work together?

App Intents serve as the foundational framework that powers many of the intelligent interactions facilitated by Apple Intelligence. By defining specific app actions, App Intents enable Siri and other system features to perform tasks within apps, creating a seamless and personalized user experience. This integration allows developers to leverage AI capabilities to enhance app functionality and user engagement.

🔎   How can developers implement App Intents in their apps?

Apple’s SDK allows developers to integrate their applications with system features like Siri and Spotlight. Assistant schemas enable Siri to understand actions within your app, while searchable items allow Spotlight to surface content from your app in search results across iOS. These integrations make your app’s features more accessible and provide more opportunities for users to engage with your application.