app-clips

# App Clips

Lightweight, instantly available versions of your iOS app for in-the-moment experiences or demos. Targets iOS 26+ / Swift 6.3 unless noted.

## Contents

- [App Clip Target Setup](#app-clip-target-setup)
- [Invocation and Experience Routing](#invocation-and-experience-routing)
- [Size and Capability Decisions](#size-and-capability-decisions)
- [Data, Notifications, and Location](#data-notifications-and-location)
- [Common Mistakes](#common-mistakes)
- [Review Checklist](#review-checklist)
- [References](#references)

## App Clip Target Setup

An App Clip is a **separate target** in the same Xcode project as your full app:

1. **File → New → Target → App Clip** — Xcode creates the App Clip target, adds the **Embed App Clip** build phase to the full app target, and wires the association entitlements.
2. The App Clip bundle ID **must** be prefixed by the full app's bundle ID: `com.example.MyApp.Clip`.
3. Verify raw entitlement keys when diagnosing archive, signing, or App Store Connect failures:
   - App Clip target: `com.apple.developer.on-demand-install-capable`
   - App Clip target parent app link: `com.apple.developer.parent-application-identifiers`
   - Full app target associated App Clip link: `com.apple.developer.associated-appclip-app-identifiers`

Use Swift packages or shared source files for code needed by both targets. Add App Clip-specific compile branches with the `APPCLIP` active compilation condition, and avoid linking full-app-only frameworks into the App Clip target.

## Invocation and Experience Routing

Read [`references/routing-and-experiences.md`](references/routing-and-experiences.md) when implementing invocation URL routing, App Store Connect experiences, Local Experiences, Safari Smart App Banners, QR/NFC/App Clip Codes, AASA, or associated domains.

App Clips receive `NSUserActivityTypeBrowsingWeb` activities. Keep the invocation router shared with the full app because, after installation, the full app replaces the App Clip and receives future invocations.

- SwiftUI: use `.onContinueUserActivity(NSUserActivityTypeBrowsingWeb)`.
- UIKit cold launch: inspect `connectionOptions.userActivities` in `scene(_:willConnectTo:options:)`.
- UIKit continuation: handle the actual `NSUserActivity` in `scene(_:continue:)`.
- `scene(_:willContinueUserActivityWithType:)` is only advance notice and does not provide the URL.

Configure the required default App Clip experience in App Store Connect. Use advanced experiences for Maps integration, location association, production App Clip Codes, per-location cards, and precise physical-place routing; demo App Clip Codes can use the short demo App Clip link.

For custom URLs, add `appclips:example.com` to Associated Domains on both the full app and App Clip targets, and host an AASA file with the App Clip app identifier. For Safari banners, use `app-id`, `app-clip-bundle-id`, and optional `app-clip-display=card`; do not rely on `app-argument` for App Clip launches.

## Size and Capability Decisions

Read [`references/size-capabilities-and-promotion.md`](references/size-capabilities-and-promotion.md) before feasibility reviews or capability audits, and when checking size budgets, measurement, Background Assets, SKOverlay, Live Activities App Clip extension constraints, CloudKit limits, or unsupported capabilities.

Always measure App Clip size with the App Thinning Size Report. In feasibility reviews, explicitly choose the size limit from deployment target, invocation support, and connectivity: the larger iOS 17+ limit applies to digital-only App Clips where reliable internet is likely; physical invocation or iOS 16 support uses a smaller budget; demo links can use the current 100 MB limit while supporting NFC/QR test invocations, and demo App Clip Codes require the short demo link. Apple has changed App Clip size policy over time, so re-check current App Store Connect and App Clip documentation before release-blocking size decisions.

Use Background Assets only for content that can arrive after launch without blocking the in-the-moment task, and do not mark App Clip background asset downloads as essential. Large bundled media, ML models, catalogs, or downloads that must finish before useful work are poor App Clip fits; state that required pre-task downloads are not acceptable for in-the-moment App Clips, and check download size plus whether any required download blocks useful work. Move those flows to streaming/server-backed content, post-task assets, or the full app. Show `SKOverlay.AppClipConfiguration` or SwiftUI `appStoreOverlay` only after task completion, never as a gate.

App Clips can use CloudKit public database reads on iOS 16+ with `CloudKit-Anonymous`, but cannot write the public database or use iCloud Documents, key-value storage, private containers, or shared containers. App Clips can offer Live Activities through an App Clip-only widget extension starting in iOS 16. That extension can include only Live Activities and needs the App Clip Extension capability; always include the raw entitlement key `com.apple.developer.on-demand-install-capable` when reviewing this boundary.

In feasibility reviews, explicitly name unsupported App Clip runtime features instead of summarizing them generically. Always list `SKAdNetwork`, `App Tracking Transparency`, and custom URL schemes when discussing excluded runtime features, alongside App Intents, Background Tasks, background URL sessions, in-app purchases, durable persistent local state, and background/persistent assumptions. Route detailed ActivityKit/WidgetKit Live Activity work, StoreKit purchase/full-app monetization, BackgroundTasks processing, CloudKit schema or sync beyond public reads, durable credentials, and long-term state to sibling or full-app domains without implementation detail. For product/PM feasibility reviews, stay at the App Clip boundary level: capability fit, size basis, invocation constraints, and handoff destinations. Describe location confirmation,