Supporting remote interactions in tvOS

At a glance

Project structure

Source bundle/
└── DirectionalRemotes/
    ├── AppDelegate.swift
    ├── Custom Player/
    │   ├── CustomPlayerViewController.swift
    │   ├── CustomPlayer.swift
    │   ├── CustomPlayerFeedbackView.swift
    │   └── CustomPlayerView.swift
    ├── Remote Events/
    │   ├── RemoteEventsViewController.swift
    │   ├── RemoteEventsPlayer.swift
    │   └── RemoteEventsView.swift
    ├── System Player/
    │   └── SystemPlayerViewController.swift
    ├── Guide/
    │   └── GuideViewController.swift
    ├── MenuViewController.swift
    └── Shared/
        └── RemoteCommand.swift

Structure observations

• Architecturally prominent files are ranked from entry points and role-named declarations; resource-only paths are omitted.
• Primary languages: Swift.
• The verified tree contains 6 project/configuration file(s) and 26 source declaration(s).

Overall architecture

flowchart LR
    N1["AppDelegate"]
    N2["CustomPlayerViewController"]
    N3["CustomPlayer"]
    N4["AVFoundation APIs"]
    N1 --> N2
    N2 --> N3
    N3 --> N4

Reference code

DirectionalRemotes/AppDelegate.swift:12 — architecture anchor

@main
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {
    // ...
    var window: UIWindow?
    // ...
}

Interpretation

The arrows summarize the source-visible entry, role-named types or folders, and framework direction; when nodes come from structural folders, the sequence is a high-level interpretation rather than proof that every adjacent node calls the next. Ownership is claimed only where the next section cites a stored property or assignment. The diagram is intentionally limited to the dominant path into AVFoundation.

Ownership and state

classDiagram
    AppDelegate o-- UIWindow : window
    CustomPlayerViewController *-- CustomPlayer : customPlayer
    CustomPlayerViewController o-- View : view
    RemoteEventsViewController *-- RemoteEventsPlayer : player

Ownership evidence

DirectionalRemotes/AppDelegate.swift:15 — stored dependency or nearest verified ownership anchor

@main
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {
    // ...
    var window: UIWindow?
    // ...
}

Composition arrows indicate a source-visible construction expression or locally owned value state; aggregation means the owner stores or receives a dependency without proving exclusive lifetime ownership.

Concurrency, scheduling, and thread safety

Evidence limit: actor isolation, async/await, or Task creation does not by itself prove background-thread execution; Sendable conformance alone does not prove thread-safe mutation.

@MainActor/MainActor.run, DispatchQueue.main, and RunLoop.main are reported as distinct isolation, queue, and event-loop mechanisms. A plain Task is kept separate from Task.detached; neither is labeled as a background thread.

Reference code

DirectionalRemotes/Custom Player/CustomPlayer.swift:212 — representative execution boundary

        DispatchQueue.main.async { [weak self] in
            guard let self = self,
                  let currentItem = self.player.currentItem,
                  let currentProgram = self.currentProgram else { return }
            // ...
        }

State propagation, frameworks, and dependencies

Evidence limit: an import proves a source-level compilation dependency at the cited line; it does not prove runtime use, architectural adoption, or whether a Swift package is a direct application dependency.

receive(on:) describes downstream delivery scheduling, while subscribe(on:) describes upstream subscription/request/cancel scheduling. An import Combine alone establishes neither behavior nor a Store, reducer, Redux, or other application architecture.

Class and protocol design

DirectionalRemotes/Guide/GuideViewController.swift:14 — representative type boundary

protocol GuideReporting: AnyObject {
    /// Called when a channel is selected in the guide view controller.
    ///
    /// - Parameter channelId: The ID of the selected channel.
    func selectedChannelId(_ channelId: Int)
}

The source explicitly defines local protocol relationships: CustomPlayerViewController → CustomPlayerReporting, MenuViewController → GuideReporting, RemoteEventsViewController → RemoteEventsPlayerReporting.

Access control

Reference code

DirectionalRemotes/Custom Player/CustomPlayer.swift:27 — representative boundary

class CustomPlayer {
    // ...
    private var playerState: CustomPlayerState = .stopped // Default to stopped state
    // ...
}

Swift declarations without a modifier are internal; explicit private, fileprivate, private(set), public, or open entries above are interpreted by language semantics. Objective-C/C samples instead rely on header and implementation boundaries, which are not equivalent to Swift lexical privacy.

Logic ownership and placement

Design patterns

Naming conventions

• Types: Command: RemoteCommand; Controller: CustomPlayerViewController, GuideViewController, MenuViewController, RemoteEventsViewController, SystemPlayerViewController; Delegate: AppDelegate; Player: CustomPlayer, RemoteEventsPlayer; View: CustomPlayerFeedbackView, CustomPlayerView, RemoteEventsView.
• Protocols: GuideReporting, CustomPlayerReporting, RemoteEventsPlayerReporting.
• Methods: application, applicationDidEnterBackground, applicationWillEnterForeground, loadView, viewDidLoad, setupGuideButtonObserver, guideButtonPressed, setupAppLifecycleEventsHandlers.
• Files: DirectionalRemotes/AppDelegate.swift, DirectionalRemotes/Custom Player/CustomPlayerViewController.swift, DirectionalRemotes/Remote Events/RemoteEventsViewController.swift, DirectionalRemotes/System Player/SystemPlayerViewController.swift, DirectionalRemotes/Guide/GuideViewController.swift, DirectionalRemotes/Custom Player/CustomPlayer.swift.

Architecture takeaways

• AppDelegate is the main source-visible entry or composition anchor for this sample.
• Framework work reaches UIKit, MediaPlayer, AVKit, AVFoundation through a deliberately small high-level chain; the detailed API graph remains inside the cited implementation files.
• Stored-property evidence identifies lifecycle collaboration; it does not by itself prove exclusive object ownership.
• Access-control conclusions separate verified language visibility from the likely design rationale.
• Local protocol relationships provide an explicit substitution boundary.

Source map

• Official Apple documentation