GroupActivities / SharePlay

Build shared real-time experiences using the GroupActivities framework. SharePlay connects people over FaceTime, Messages, AirDrop, and nearby visionOS sharing, synchronizing media playback, app state, or custom data.

Contents

• Setup
• Defining a GroupActivity
• Session Lifecycle
• Sending and Receiving Messages
• Coordinated Media Playback
• Starting SharePlay from Your App
• GroupSessionJournal: File Transfer
• Common Mistakes
• Review Checklist
• References

Setup

Capability

Add the Group Activities capability to the app target in Xcode. Xcode adds the required entitlement and updates the provisioning profile:

<key>com.apple.developer.group-session</key>
<true/>

Configure this only for app targets. Group Activities are not available in widgets, extensions, or App Clips.

Checking Eligibility

import GroupActivities

let observer = GroupStateObserver()

// Check if a FaceTime call or Messages conversation is active
if observer.isEligibleForGroupSession {
    showSharePlayButton()
}

Observe changes reactively:

for await isEligible in observer.$isEligibleForGroupSession.values {
    showSharePlayButton(isEligible)
}

Defining a GroupActivity

Conform to GroupActivity and provide metadata:

import GroupActivities

struct WatchTogetherActivity: GroupActivity {
    let movieID: String
    let movieTitle: String

    var metadata: GroupActivityMetadata {
        var meta = GroupActivityMetadata()
        meta.title = movieTitle
        meta.type = .watchTogether
        meta.fallbackURL = URL(string: "https://example.com/movie/\(movieID)")
        return meta
    }
}

Activity Types