Creating a collaborative photo gallery with SharePlay

At a glance

Project structure

Source bundle/
├── GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary/
│   ├── GroupActivities_PhotoLibraryApp.swift
│   ├── Models/
│   │   ├── AppModel.swift
│   │   ├── SessionController.swift
│   │   ├── DisplayImage.swift
│   │   ├── PhotoShareActivity.swift
│   │   └── PhotosPickerItemExtension.swift
│   └── Views/
│       ├── ContentView.swift
│       ├── ImageCellView.swift
│       ├── ImageView.swift
│       ├── PhotoGalleryView.swift
│       └── SharePlayButton.swift
└── Configuration/
    └── SampleCode.xcconfig

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 5 project/configuration file(s) and 10 source declaration(s).

Overall architecture

flowchart LR
    N1["GroupActivities_PhotoLibraryApp"]
    N2["ContentView"]
    N3["AppModel"]
    N4["GroupActivities APIs"]
    N1 --> N2
    N2 --> N3
    N3 --> N4

Reference code

GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary/GroupActivities_PhotoLibraryApp.swift:10 — architecture anchor

@main
struct PhotoLibraryApp: App {
    @State private var appModel = AppModel()

    var body: some Scene {
        WindowGroup {
            VStack {
                ContentView()
                    .environment(appModel)
                // Add a hidden `ShareLink` to start the activity from the window bar.
                ShareLink(item: PhotoShareActivity(), preview: SharePreview("Share Images"))
                    .hidden()
            }
        }
        .windowResizability(.contentMinSize)
    }
}

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 Group Activities.

Ownership and state

classDiagram
    PhotoLibraryApp *-- AppModel : appModel
    AppModel *-- Logger : logger
    AppModel *-- String : name
    AppModel o-- SessionController : sessionController

Ownership evidence

GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary/GroupActivities_PhotoLibraryApp.swift:12 — stored dependency or nearest verified ownership anchor

@main
struct PhotoLibraryApp: App {
    @State private var appModel = AppModel()
    // ...
}

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

GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary/Models/AppModel.swift:14 — representative execution boundary

@MainActor @Observable final class AppModel {
    let logger = Logger(subsystem: "com.example.apple-samplecode.GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary", category: "AppModel")
    // ...
}

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

GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary/GroupActivities_PhotoLibraryApp.swift:11 — representative type boundary

@main
struct PhotoLibraryApp: App {
    @State private var appModel = AppModel()
    // ...
}

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

Access control

Reference code

GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary/GroupActivities_PhotoLibraryApp.swift:12 — representative boundary

@main
struct PhotoLibraryApp: App {
    @State private var appModel = AppModel()
    // ...
}

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

Main application flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant AppModel
    participant PhotoShareActivity
    participant SessionController
    PhotoShareActivity-->>AppModel: session() stream
    AppModel->>SessionController: SessionController()
    AppModel-->>AppModel: state() stream
    AppModel->>AppModel: shareExistingImages()

Reference code

GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary/Models/AppModel.swift:140 — observeGroupSessions()

    private func observeGroupSessions() async {
        // When a new `GroupSession` of `PhotoShareActivity` is available, set up a `SessionController`
        // to manage the session and join it.
        for await session in PhotoShareActivity.sessions() {
            let sessionController = await SessionController(session, appModel: self)

            self.sessionController = sessionController

            // Create a task on the same actor to observe the group session state and clear the
            // session controller when the group session invalidates.
            Task.immediate(name: "session state observation") {
                for await state in session.$state.values {
                    guard self.sessionController?.session.id == session.id else {
                        return
                    }

                    if case .invalidated = state {
                        self.sessionController = nil
                        return
                    }
                }
            }

            // Share existing finished images when the session starts.
            await shareExistingImages(to: sessionController)
        }
    }

Naming conventions

• Types: App: PhotoLibraryApp; Controller: SessionController; Model: AppModel; View: ContentView, ImageCellView, ImageView, PhotoGalleryView.
• Protocols: no local protocol declaration in the scanned source.
• Methods: endSession, removeItem, shareExistingImages, observeGroupSessions, updateImagesFromSelection, addImagesFromPhotoPicker, removeImagesFromPhotoPicker, loadImage.
• Files: GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary/Models/AppModel.swift, GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary/Models/SessionController.swift, GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary/Views/ContentView.swift, GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary/Views/ImageCellView.swift, GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary/Views/ImageView.swift, GroupActivities-PhotoLibrary/Views/PhotoGalleryView.swift.

Architecture takeaways

• GroupActivities_PhotoLibraryApp is the main source-visible entry or composition anchor for this sample.
• Framework work reaches SwiftUI, GroupActivities, PhotosUI, QuickLook 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