Building an NFC Tag-Reader App

At a glance

Project structure

Source bundle/
├── NFCTagReader/
│   ├── AppDelegate.swift
│   ├── MessagesTableViewController.swift
│   ├── PayloadsTableViewController.swift
│   ├── MessagesTableViewController+DataSource.swift
│   ├── Base.lproj/
│   │   ├── LaunchScreen.storyboard
│   │   └── Main.storyboard
│   ├── NFCTagReader.entitlements
│   └── Resources/
│       └── Info.plist
├── Configuration/
│   └── SampleCode.xcconfig
└── NFCTagReader.xcodeproj/
    ├── .xcodesamplecode.plist
    └── project.pbxproj

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 7 project/configuration file(s) and 3 source declaration(s).

Overall architecture

flowchart LR
    N1["AppDelegate"]
    N2["MessagesTableViewController"]
    N3["CoreNFC APIs"]
    N1 --> N2
    N2 --> N3

Reference code

NFCTagReader/AppDelegate.swift:10 — architecture anchor

@UIApplicationMain
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {
    var window: UIWindow?

    func application(_ application: UIApplication,
                     continue userActivity: NSUserActivity,
                     restorationHandler: @escaping ([UIUserActivityRestoring]?) -> Void) -> Bool {
        guard userActivity.activityType == NSUserActivityTypeBrowsingWeb else {
            return false
        }

        // Confirm that the NSUserActivity object contains a valid NDEF message.
        let ndefMessage = userActivity.ndefMessagePayload
        guard !ndefMessage.records.isEmpty,
            ndefMessage.records[0].typeNameFormat != .empty else {
                return false
        }

        // Send the message to `MessagesTableViewController` for processing.
        guard let navigationController = window?.rootViewController as? UINavigationController else {
            return false
        }

        navigationController.popToRootViewController(animated: true)
        let messageTableViewController = navigationController.topViewController as? MessagesTableViewController
        messageTableViewController?.addMessage(fromUserActivity: ndefMessage)

        return true
    }
}

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 Core NFC.

Ownership and state

classDiagram
    AppDelegate o-- UIWindow : window
    MessagesTableViewController o-- NFCNDEFReaderSession : session
    PayloadsTableViewController o-- NFCNDEFMessage : message
    PayloadsTableViewController o-- NFCNDEFReaderSession : session

Ownership evidence

NFCTagReader/AppDelegate.swift:12 — stored dependency or nearest verified ownership anchor

@UIApplicationMain
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

NFCTagReader/MessagesTableViewController.swift:44 — representative execution boundary

        DispatchQueue.main.async {
            // Process detected NFCNDEFMessage objects.
            self.detectedMessages.append(contentsOf: messages)
            self.tableView.reloadData()
        }

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

NFCTagReader/AppDelegate.swift:11 — representative type boundary

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

No local protocol conformance is claimed as protocol-oriented design; external framework conformances are listed only as dependencies.

Access control

Reference code

NFCTagReader/PayloadsTableViewController.swift:12 — representative boundary

    public var description: String {
        // ...
        case .nfcWellKnown: return "NFC Well Known type"
        // ...
    }

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: Controller: MessagesTableViewController, PayloadsTableViewController; Delegate: AppDelegate.
• Protocols: no local protocol declaration in the scanned source.
• Methods: application, beginScanning, readerSession, readerSessionDidBecomeActive, addMessage, tableView, beginWrite, prepare.
• Files: NFCTagReader/AppDelegate.swift, NFCTagReader/MessagesTableViewController.swift, NFCTagReader/PayloadsTableViewController.swift.

Architecture takeaways

• AppDelegate is the main source-visible entry or composition anchor for this sample.
• Framework work reaches UIKit, CoreNFC 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.
• The source does not justify labeling the design protocol-oriented.

Source map

• Official Apple documentation