PhotoKit

Modern patterns for photo picking, camera capture, image loading, and media permissions targeting iOS 26+ with Swift 6.3. Patterns are backward-compatible to iOS 16 unless noted. See references/photokit-patterns.md for complete picker recipes and references/camera-capture.md for AVCaptureSession patterns.

Contents

• PhotosPicker (SwiftUI, iOS 16+)
• Privacy and Permissions
• Camera Capture Basics
• Image Loading and Display
• Common Mistakes
• Review Checklist
• References

PhotosPicker (SwiftUI, iOS 16+)

PhotosPicker is the native SwiftUI replacement for UIImagePickerController. It runs out-of-process, requires no photo library permission for browsing, and supports single or multi-selection with media type filtering.

Single Selection

import SwiftUI
import PhotosUI

struct SinglePhotoPicker: View {
    @State private var selectedItem: PhotosPickerItem?
    @State private var selectedImage: Image?

    var body: some View {
        VStack {
            if let selectedImage {
                selectedImage
                    .resizable()
                    .scaledToFit()
                    .frame(maxHeight: 300)
            }

            PhotosPicker("Select Photo", selection: $selectedItem, matching: .images)
        }
        .onChange(of: selectedItem) { _, newItem in
            Task {
                if let data = try? await newItem?.loadTransferable(type: Data.self),
                   let uiImage = UIImage(data: data) {
                    selectedImage = Image(uiImage: uiImage)
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Multi-Selection