tipkit

TipKit (iOS / macOS)

Contextual in-app tips for feature discovery. import TipKit. Base API iOS 17+; TipGroup, CloudKit sync, and reusable identifiers are iOS 18+. Grounded in Apple's TipKit and SwiftUI documentation.

• Tips are declarative + rule-gated: you describe a tip and the conditions to show it; TipKit owns when it appears and persists that state across launches.
• In a fintech app: use tips for discovery ("Set up Face ID unlock", "Move money faster with saved recipients") — never to disclose fees, rates, or legal terms. Tips are dismissible and frequency-throttled, so they must never carry information the user is required to see.

Contents

• Configure at launch
• Define a tip
• Display a tip (SwiftUI / UIKit)
• Actions
• Rules: parameters & events
• Options (display count / duration / frequency)
• Lifecycle: invalidate & status
• TipGroup + priority (iOS 18)
• Reusable identifiers (iOS 18)
• CloudKit sync (iOS 18)
• Testing overrides
• Correctness checklist
• References: references/rules-events-uikit.md

Configure at launch

Call Tips.configure exactly once, early (App init / application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:)), before any tip is shown. It throws and loads the persistent tip datastore.

import TipKit
import SwiftUI

@main
struct BankApp: App {
    init() {
        try? Tips.configure([
            .displayFrequency(.immediate),           // how often *any* tip may appear
            .datastoreLocation(.applicationDefault),
        ])
    }
    var body: some Scene { WindowGroup { RootView() } }
}

• .displayFrequency(_:) — throttles the whole app's tips: .immediate (no throttle), .hourly, .daily, .weekly. A tip may bypass this with the IgnoresDisplayFrequency option (below).
• .datastoreLocation(_:) — where display state persists:
  • .applicationDefault — app sandbox (default).
  • .groupContainer(identifier: "group.com.bank.app") — an App Group, so an app extension (widget, notification service) shares tip state with the app.
  • .url(_:) — a custom directory URL you manage.
• .cloudKitContainer(_:) — opt into cross-device sync (iOS 18+); see CloudKit sync.
• Configure once. Re-configuring or configuring after tips render is unsupported.