Bridging Apps with iOS Multipeer Connectivity

Join this session for an engaging and insightful talk about multipeer connectivity. This talk is all about exploring how you can use iOS's multipeer connectivity to enhance your apps and implement new ideas with this technology.
You'll learn the ins and outs of setting up direct communication between devices, including how to transfer data and control functions across different apps just by being nearby. I will walk you through real-world examples and straightforward demos that show you just how powerful and fun this feature can be. Whether you're looking to create interactive games, collaborative tools, or just want to understand the potential of iOS's multipeer connectivity, this talk has something for you. Get ready to up your Swift game and bring a new edge to your app development!

Transcript

2. Bridging Apps with iOS Multipeer Connectivity Zamzam Farzamipooya Engineering Manager @ Veo @zamzampooya SwiftCraft 2024
3. What Is Multipeer Connectivity Support peer-to-peer connectivity and the discovery of nearby devices In iOS, the framework uses infrastructure Wi-Fi networks, peer-to-peer Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth personal area networks for the underlying transport. In macOS and tvOS, it uses infrastructure Wi-Fi, peer-to-peer Wi-Fi, and Ethernet.
4. Why Multipeer Connectivity? Decentralized Network No Internet Required Ease of Use Adaptive Connectivity Versatility
5. Why Not? Limited Range Performance Variability Complex Network Management Compatibility
6. What It Can Be Used For Collaborative tools Messaging Education Location based Social Networking Gaming!
7. Multipeer Connectivity Framework Key Concepts Session objects (MCSession) support communication between connected peer devices. Advertiser objects (MCNearbyServiceAdvertiser) tell nearby peers that your app is willing to join sessions of a specified type. Browser objects (MCNearbyServiceBrowser) let your app search programmatically for nearby devices with apps that support sessions of a particular type. Peer IDs (MCPeerID) uniquely identify an app running on a device to nearby peers.
8. How It Works Advertiser Browser It is findable It can find other advertisers Finds an Advertiser Sends Invite Receives Invite Accepts Invite Connected Session They can send and receive data
9. Tic-Tac-Toe Find nearby players Connect to one opponent Play!
10. Setting Up Info.plist Getting permissions from the user Privacy — Local Network Usage Description Also we need to add the following to Info.plist
11. MCManager ServiceType -> The same name as in the info.plist Advertiser Browser Session Players
12. Player A model to keep track of players MCPeerID Name MCSessionState PlayerType
13. Setting Up The Environment PeerID CurrentPlayer Session Advertiser Browser Their delegates
14. Starting The Sessions
15. Starting The Sessions .addPlayer .findingPlayers .play
16. Add Player .addPlayer .findingPlayers We need to have a list of all nearby peers
17. Informs us when a peer is found Informs us when a peer is lost MCNearbyServiceBrowserDelegate
18. Showing Nearby Peers Using availablePlayers list to show nearby peers Inviting peers to join our session
19. Incoming invitation request Automatically connect Or show and alert for connection request MCNearbyServiceAdvertiserDelegate
20. MCSessionDelegate Called when the state of a nearby peer changes
21. When Connected From .addPlayer or .findingPlayers To .play
22. MCSessionDelegate Data Handling - Sending https://developer.apple.com/documentation/multipeerconnectivity/mcsession
23. Send playerType on Connection The starter is X and the other is O
24. MCSessionDelegate Data Handling - Message
25. MCSessionDelegate Data Handling - Receiving
26. MCSessionDelegate Data Handling - Decoding
27. Game Logic @1TheSwiftGuy
28. Sending Game Logic
29. Demo Time! Let’s play
30. Challenges Background mode and reestablishing the connection Debugging Unexpected behaviour Poor
31. Future of Multipeer Connectivity Cross-Platform Compatibility Enhanced Performance and Reliability Integration with IoT and Smart Devices Better support for background mode
32. @zamzampooya #WomenLifeFreedom Thank You