ios-platform-capabilities

name	ios-platform-capabilities
description	Use when integrating iOS system capabilities such as App Intents, widgets, Spotlight, biometrics, notifications, Bluetooth, media, or PDF export; use ios-development for ordinary app features.
metadata	{"portable":true,"compatible_with":["claude-code","codex"]}

iOS Platform Capabilities

Acknowledgement: Shared by Peter Bamuhigire, techguypeter.com, [phone].

Use When

• Implementing or reviewing iOS capabilities that require Apple frameworks, entitlements, permissions, device hardware, background delivery, native export, Siri exposure, or Spotlight indexing.
• The task references App Intents, App Entities, App Schemas, View Annotations, Core Spotlight, WidgetKit, LocalAuthentication, CoreBluetooth, APNs, notification extensions, URLSession, offline queues, certificate pinning, NowPlaying, Music Understanding, or UIGraphicsPDFRenderer.
• A retired capability skill is referenced by name.

Do Not Use When

• The work is general iOS architecture or UI without a platform framework capability.
• The work is StoreKit monetization; use ios-monetization.
• The work is security/RBAC governance rather than capability implementation; use ios-security-and-rbac.

Required Inputs

• Capability scope, target iOS versions, entitlements, permission copy, backend/API contract, offline requirements, privacy disclosures, and relevant device constraints.

Workflow

1. Load ios-development for baseline Swift and app-structure rules.
2. Load ios-security-and-rbac when the capability touches secrets, identity, device trust, authorization, or tenant data.
3. Load references/app-intents-siri-spotlight-wwdc26.md when the feature exposes content/actions to Siri, Spotlight, widgets, or App Intents Testing.
4. Pick the reference for the requested capability and follow its implementation workflow.
5. Verify simulator/device limitations, entitlement setup, fallback behaviour, App Review evidence, and user-facing permission states.

Quality Standards

• Capabilities must handle permission denied, unavailable hardware, offline operation where relevant, and background lifecycle constraints.
• Native framework use must be testable, privacy-compliant, and documented in release notes or app-review evidence when required.
• Siri/App Intents integrations must have entity/action inventory, semantic-index privacy review, App Intents tests, and unavailable-state handling.

Anti-Patterns

• Implementing hardware or notification features without real-device verification.
• Hiding entitlement, permission, or App Review requirements inside code comments only.
• Building PDF/report/networking features without retry, failure, and export-state handling.

Outputs

• Capability implementation guidance, framework integration checklist, entitlement/privacy notes, test plan, or review findings.

Inputs

Artefact	Produced by	Required?	Why
Capability use case and fallback	Product owner	required	Prevents unnecessary entitlement requests
Privacy and threat assessment	ios-security-and-rbac	required for sensitive capabilities	Defines permission and data boundaries
Supported device/OS matrix	ios-quality-and-release	required	Establishes availability branches

Decision Rules

Condition	Action
Capability works without permission	Do not request the permission
Permission is contextual	Ask immediately before the user action that needs it
Device or OS lacks the framework	Provide a documented in-app fallback
Entitlement is not approved or provisioned	Stop release of that capability

Domain Anti-Patterns

• Requesting every permission at launch. Fix: ask in context after explaining value.

• Assuming an entitlement exists because code compiles. Fix: verify provisioning and device behaviour.

• Indexing sensitive content into Spotlight. Fix: classify and exclude private records.

• Making Siri or widgets the only path. Fix: retain an accessible in-app workflow.

• Treating Bluetooth transport success as print success. Fix: confirm protocol response and retry state.

• references/ios-biometric-login.md for Face ID/Touch ID launch gates and LocalAuthentication.

• references/ios-bluetooth-printing.md for CoreBluetooth ESC/POS thermal printing.

• references/ios-push-notifications.md for APNs, rich notifications, service extensions, and silent push.

• references/ios-pdf-export.md for native multipage PDF export with UIGraphicsPDFRenderer.

• references/ios-networking-advanced.md for production URLSession, typed errors, refresh, pinning, multipart, and offline queues.

• references/app-intents-siri-spotlight-wwdc26.md for App Intents, App Entities, App Schemas, View Annotations, Spotlight semantic indexing, App Intents Testing, and widget customization.

• references/apple-framework-watch-items-wwdc26.md for NowPlaying, Music Understanding, RAW, camera/media, Background Assets, Game Porting Toolkit, Unity plugins, and specialty follow-up routing.

Read next

• ios-security-and-rbac for protected capabilities; ios-quality-and-release for entitlement and device verification.