Meet Focus filters

Focus filter

• new way for users to customize app behavior based on the currently enabled Focus

Examples:

• Calendar.app can show different calendars based if it’s weekend (Weekend focus) or if it’s work time (Work focus)

• Mail.app can show different mailboxes and notifications based on the active focus

When to adopt focus filters

• when your app manages multiple accounts (e.g., for leisure and work)

• when your app has lots of content that can be filtered

• when your app should be less distracting (e.g., by turning of badges) for certain focus modes

How Focus filter work:

1. Your app defines what can be customized via AppIntents

2. The system exposes to the user what can be configured as a Focus filter

3. The user will configure Focus filter settings in your app

Defining a Focus filter in your app

1. implement SetFocusFilterIntent - this tells the system that your app is interested in having custom settings per Focus

import AppIntents

struct ExampleChatAppFocusFilter: SetFocusFilterIntent {
  /// Title and description help users discover what your Focus is about.
  ///
  /// Title and description are static and are ready by the system when 
  /// your app is installed.
  static var title: LocalizedStringResource = "Set account, status & look"
  static var description: LocalizedStringResource? = "..."
}

1. define your app parameters - these will represent what can be configured within your app by the user

• each parameter must have a name and a data type (Bool, String, etc.)

• custom data types are supported via App Intents entities (AppEntity)

• parameter can be marked optionals, meaning that they do not have to be configured

• non-optional parameters should provide default values

import AppIntents

struct ExampleChatAppFocusFilter: SetFocusFilterIntent {
  // ...

  @Parameter(title: "Use Dark Mode", default: false)
  var alwaysUseDarkMode: Bool

  @Parameter(title: "Status Message")
  var status: String?

  @Parameter(title: "Selected Account")
  var account: AccountEntity?

  // ...
}

1. set display representation - making your Focus filter appears in system settings with the correct content

struct ExampleChatAppFocusFilter: SetFocusFilterIntent {
  // ...

  /// This should return a dynamic representation of the current user configuration to 
  /// be displayed in the Settings.app.
  var displayRepresentation: DisplayRepresentation {
    ...

    return DisplayRepresentation(title: title, subtitle: subtitle)
  }
  
  // ...
}

Acting on a Focus filter

The system will deliver relevant focus updates to your app in two ways:

1. If the app is running, you will receive a call to the perform method in your FocusFilterIntent (if you’ve implemented it)

2. If the app is not running, you can implement an extension that will be triggered when needed

• at the end, perform() in your FocusFilterIntent will get called (in your extension)

• an AppIntent extension is not necessary if you only need to act upon the changes in your main app

• however, if you need to control widgets, notifications and/or badges, you should implement the extension

struct ExampleChatAppFocusFilter: SetFocusFilterIntent {
  // ...

  func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult {
    let myData = AppData(
      alwaysUseDarkMode: self.alwaysUseDarkMode, // 👈🏻 you access to the user configuration
      status: self.status,                       // by accessing the @Parameter properties
      account: self.account                      // values
    )
    myModel.shared.updateAppWithData(myData)
    return .result()
  }
}