Live Activities and Dynamic Island

Build real-time, glanceable experiences on the Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, StandBy, CarPlay, and Mac menu bar using ActivityKit. Patterns target iOS 26+ with Swift 6.2, backward-compatible to iOS 16.1 unless noted.

See references/live-activity-patterns.md for complete code patterns including push payload formats, concurrent activities, state observation, and testing.

Contents

• Workflow
• ActivityAttributes Definition
• Activity Lifecycle
• Lock Screen Presentation
• Dynamic Island
• Push-to-Update
• iOS 26 Additions
• Common Mistakes
• Review Checklist
• References

Workflow

1. Create a new Live Activity

1. Add NSSupportsLiveActivities = YES to the host app's Info.plist.
2. Define an ActivityAttributes struct with a nested ContentState.
3. Create an ActivityConfiguration in the widget bundle with Lock Screen content and Dynamic Island closures.
4. Start the activity with Activity.request(attributes:content:pushType:).
5. Update with activity.update(_:) and end with activity.end(_:dismissalPolicy:).
6. Forward push tokens to your server for remote updates.

2. Review existing Live Activity code

Run through the Review Checklist at the end of this document.

ActivityAttributes Definition

Define both static data (immutable for the activity lifetime) and dynamic ContentState (changes with each update). Keep ContentState small because the entire struct is serialized on every update and push payload.

import ActivityKit

struct DeliveryAttributes: ActivityAttributes {
    // Static -- set once at activity creation, never changes
    var orderNumber: Int
    var restaurantName: String

    // Dynamic -- updated throughout the activity lifetime
    struct ContentState: Codable, Hashable {
        var driverName: String
        var estimatedDeliveryTime: ClosedRange<Date>
        var currentStep: DeliveryStep
    }
}

enum DeliveryStep: String, Codable, Hashable, CaseIterable {
    case confirmed, preparing, pickedUp, delivering, delivered

    var icon: String {
        switch self {
        case .confirmed: "checkmark.circle"
        case .preparing: "frying.pan"
        case .pickedUp: "bag.fill"
        case .delivering: "box.truck.fill"
        case .delivered: "house.fill"
        }
    }
}

Stale Date

Set staleDate on ActivityContent to tell the system when content becomes outdated. The system sets context.isStale to true after this date; show fallback UI (e.g., "Updating...") in your views.

let content = ActivityContent(
    state: state,
    staleDate: Date().addingTimeInterval(300), // stale after 5 minutes
    relevanceScore: 75
)

Activity Lifecycle

Starting

Use Activity.request to create and display a Live Activity. Pass .token as the pushType to enable remote updates via APNs.

let attributes = DeliveryAttributes(orderNumber: 42, restaurantName: "Pizza Place")
let state = DeliveryAttributes.ContentState(
    driverName: "Alex",
    estimatedDeliveryTime: Date()...Date().addingTimeInterval(1800),
    currentStep: .preparing
)
let content = ActivityContent(state: state, staleDate: nil, relevanceScore: 75)

do {
    let activity = try Activity.request(
        attributes: attributes,
        content: content,
        pushType: .token
    )
    print("Started activity: \(activity.id)")
} catch {
    print("Failed to start activity: \(error)")
}

Updating

Update the dynamic content state from the app. Use AlertConfiguration to trigger a visible banner and sound alongside the update.

let updatedState = DeliveryAttributes.ContentState(
    driverName: "Alex",
    estimatedDeliveryTime: Date()...Date().addingTimeInterval(600),
    currentStep: .delivering
)
let updatedContent = ActivityContent(
    state: updatedState,
    staleDate: Date().addingTimeInterval(300),
    relevanceScore: 90
)

// Silent update
await activity.update(updatedContent)

// Update with an alert
await activity.update(updatedContent, alertConfiguration: AlertConfiguration(
    title: "Order Update",
    body: "Your driver is nearby!",
    sound: .default
))

Ending

End the activity when the tracked event completes. Choose a dismissal policy to control how long the ended activity lingers on the Lock Screen.

let finalState = DeliveryAttributes.ContentState(
    driverName: "Alex",
    estimatedDeliveryTime: Date()...Date(),
    currentStep: .delivered
)
let finalContent = ActivityContent(state: finalState, staleDate: nil, relevanceScore: 0)

// System decides when to remove (up to 4 hours)
await activity.end(finalContent, dismissalPolicy: .default)

// Remove immediately
await activity.end(finalContent, dismissalPolicy: .immediate)

// Remove after a specific time (max 4 hours from now)
await activity.end(finalContent, dismissalPolicy: .after(Date().addingTimeInterval(3600)))

Always end activities on all code paths -- success, error, and cancellation. A leaked activity stays on the Lock Screen until the system kills it (up to 8 hours), which frustrates users.

Lock Screen Presentation

The Lock Screen is the primary surface for Live Activities. Every device with iOS 16.1+ displays Live Activities here. Design this layout first.

struct DeliveryActivityWidget: Widget {
    var body: some WidgetConfiguration {
        ActivityConfiguration(for: DeliveryAttributes.self) { context in
            // Lock Screen / StandBy / CarPlay / Mac menu bar content
            VStack(alignment: