Apple has introduced a powerful new framework called TipKit, designed to revolutionize the way developers educate users about their apps. With The new framework, developers can easily create interactive tips that help users discover and navigate through the features of their apps effectively. Apple’s unveiling of the new TipKit will empower developers to guide users in app navigation.
As Apple continues to prioritize user education, TipKit emerges as a valuable tool in the developer’s arsenal, paving the way for seamless app navigation and discovery. With The new framework, developers can unlock the true potential of their apps and provide users with a more intuitive and enjoyable experience. TipKit will help developers improve the user experience on apps in the upcoming iOS 17 and the other operating system updates arriving to iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, etc.
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Creating Tips with TipKit
The Instructional Products team at Apple, responsible for user education, developed TipKit with the primary objective of providing an educational tool for developers. It enables developers to showcase new app features, unveil hidden functionalities, and guide users to perform tasks more efficiently. Moreover, it is compatible with various Apple devices, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV, ensuring a seamless user experience across platforms.
Using the TipKit Framework
To create a tip, developers start by defining a title and a message. Effective tips have action-oriented titles that succinctly describe the feature, coupled with easy-to-understand instructions or benefit information in the message. Apple provides examples of actionable and instructional tips, emphasizing the importance of clarity and memorability in their TipKit video on the Official Developers Website.
Once the tip’s content is defined, developers can utilize the TipKit framework in Xcode to structure the tip’s appearance and configure the TipsCenter. The TipsCenter is responsible for key functionalities within TipKit, such as persisting tips and associated events between app launches, making testing easier, and ensuring a smooth user experience.
Developers have the flexibility to customize the tip’s appearance to match their app’s design. They can adjust the text color, add icons to draw attention and incorporate action buttons for quick access to relevant settings. Additionally, developers can include links to additional resources, such as onboarding flows, to further assist users in app navigation.
Types of Tip Views
To maximize the impact of tips, TipKit provides options for different types of tip views: popover view and in-line view. The popover view appears over the app’s user interface, pointing directly to specific elements, while the in-line view temporarily adjusts the app’s UI to accommodate the tip without blocking any crucial content. This ensures that the tips are contextually relevant and appear close to the relevant buttons or elements.
Setting Eligibility Rules
To reach the right audience at the ideal time, TipKit allows developers to set eligibility rules for displaying tips. These rules can be parameter-based or event-based, enabling developers to show tips based on specific conditions or actions performed by users. For example, developers can ensure that a tip is shown only to logged-in users or after a user has performed a particular action multiple times.
Controlling Tip Frequency
TipsCenter also provides options for controlling the frequency of tip displays. Developers can specify the time duration between each tip appearance, ensuring a balanced cadence that avoids overwhelming the user. Additionally, TipKit offers dismissal behaviors for tips, allowing developers to define conditions for automatically dismissing tips when users have interacted with the feature or when a maximum display count has been reached.
Testing and Debugging
Testing and debugging TipKit features is made effortless with convenient APIs provided by Apple. Developers can easily show or hide tips during testing, inspect all tips without satisfying the eligibility rules, or reset the data store to ensure a pristine state for each build.
Apple is working really hard to improve everything for the release of iOS 17. As Apple unveils TipKit, it will empower developers to enhance user experiences in iOS 17 by guiding them through app features effectively. By providing an intuitive framework for creating instructional tips, configuring eligibility rules, controlling tip frequency, and testing functionality, It enables developers to unlock the full potential of their apps and improve user engagement.
Source: Apple Developer Website
