Sample CodeiOS, iPadOS, Mac CatalystReviewed 2026-07-21View on Apple Developer

Adopting hover support for Apple Pencil

At a glance

Item Summary
Purpose Enhance user feedback for your iPadOS app with a hover preview for Apple Pencil input.
App architecture A Swift sample with the source-visible chain AppDelegateViewControllerUIKit APIs.
Main patterns View-controller organization, Delegate or data-source callbacks
Project style 5 scanned source file(s) across Swift, organized around ranked entry, type, and file boundaries.
Execution model No structured execution marker indexed; callback threading requires source review.
State/event model No structured observation or publisher-scheduling marker indexed.
Key frameworks/packages UIKit, CoreGraphics; these are source dependencies, not architecture labels.

Project structure

Source bundle/
├── ApplePencilSampleApp/
│   ├── ApplePencilSampleApp/
│   │   ├── AppDelegate.swift
│   │   ├── Drawing/
│   │   │   ├── HoverDrawView.swift
│   │   │   └── DrawGestureRecognizer.swift
│   │   ├── SceneDelegate.swift
│   │   ├── ViewController.swift
│   │   ├── Base.lproj/
│   │   │   ├── LaunchScreen.storyboard
│   │   │   └── Main.storyboard
│   │   └── Info.plist
│   └── ApplePencilSampleApp.xcodeproj/
│       ├── .xcodesamplecode.plist
│       └── project.pbxproj
└── 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 6 project/configuration file(s) and 5 source declaration(s).

Overall architecture

Reference code

ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/AppDelegate.swift:10 — architecture anchor

@main
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {

    func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
        return true
    }

    // MARK: UISceneSession Lifecycle

    func application(_ application: UIApplication,
                     configurationForConnecting connectingSceneSession: UISceneSession,
                     options: UIScene.ConnectionOptions) -> UISceneConfiguration {
        return UISceneConfiguration(name: "Default Configuration",
                                    sessionRole: connectingSceneSession.role)
    }
}

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 UIKit.

Ownership and state

Ownership evidence

ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/Drawing/HoverDrawView.swift:18 — stored dependency or nearest verified ownership anchor

class HoverDrawView: UIView {
    // ...
    private let strokeWidth: CGFloat = 4.0
    // ...
}
Owner Object or state Relationship Mutation authority
HoverDrawView CGFloat (strokeWidth) owns value state Initialized by the owner; the binding is immutable
HoverDrawView CGFloat (lineWidth) owns value state Initialized by the owner; the binding is immutable
HoverDrawView CGContext (bitmapContext) stores or receives Owning lexical scope
HoverDrawView CGSize (bitmapContextSize) owns value state Owning lexical scope

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.

No source-visible execution, scheduling, or synchronization boundary was found in the indexed source.

@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.

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.

Category Mechanism or module Verified role Evidence
Source import UIKit The cited file imports this module; runtime use and architectural role are not inferred. ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/AppDelegate.swift:8
Source import CoreGraphics The cited file imports this module; runtime use and architectural role are not inferred. ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/Drawing/HoverDrawView.swift:9

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

ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/AppDelegate.swift:11 — representative type boundary

@main
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {
    // ...
        return true
    // ...
}
Type Responsibility Depends on or conforms to
AppDelegate Receives callback-driven events UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate
HoverDrawView User-interface presentation and input forwarding UIView
SceneDelegate Receives callback-driven events UIResponder, UIWindowSceneDelegate
ViewController View lifecycle, callbacks, and feature coordination UIViewController
DrawGestureRecognizer Owns feature behavior and collaborator lifecycle UILongPressGestureRecognizer

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

Access control

Symbol Access Verified effect Likely rationale
strokeWidth (ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/Drawing/HoverDrawView.swift:18) private Use is restricted to the lexical declaration and same-file extensions allowed by Swift. Inference: keep state mutation or dependency lifetime inside the owning implementation.
lineWidth (ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/Drawing/HoverDrawView.swift:19) private Use is restricted to the lexical declaration and same-file extensions allowed by Swift. Inference: keep state mutation or dependency lifetime inside the owning implementation.
strokeColor (ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/Drawing/HoverDrawView.swift:20) private Use is restricted to the lexical declaration and same-file extensions allowed by Swift. Inference: keep state mutation or dependency lifetime inside the owning implementation.
pathTailSize (ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/Drawing/HoverDrawView.swift:21) private Use is restricted to the lexical declaration and same-file extensions allowed by Swift. Inference: keep state mutation or dependency lifetime inside the owning implementation.

Reference code

ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/Drawing/HoverDrawView.swift:18 — representative boundary

class HoverDrawView: UIView {
    // ...
    private let strokeWidth: CGFloat = 4.0
    // ...
}

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

Logic Owning type or file Placement rationale
View lifecycle, callbacks, and feature coordination ViewController The source’s Controller suffix makes this role explicit.
Receives callback-driven events AppDelegate, SceneDelegate The source’s Delegate suffix makes this role explicit.
User-interface presentation and input forwarding HoverDrawView The source’s View suffix makes this role explicit.

Design patterns

Pattern Source evidence Purpose or tradeoff
View-controller organization ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/ViewController.swift:10 A controller is the verified coordination boundary; this is MVC-style only where a separate model is present.
Delegate or data-source callbacks ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/AppDelegate.swift:11 Callback protocols invert event delivery back into the sample’s owner.

Naming conventions

  • Types: Controller: ViewController; Delegate: AppDelegate, SceneDelegate; View: HoverDrawView.
  • Protocols: no local protocol declaration in the scanned source.
  • Methods: application, layoutSubviews, didMoveToSuperview, configureGestureRecognizers, drawGesture, hoverGesture, updateShapeLayer, updateBitmapContext.
  • Files: ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/AppDelegate.swift, ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/Drawing/HoverDrawView.swift, ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/SceneDelegate.swift, ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/ViewController.swift, ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/Drawing/DrawGestureRecognizer.swift.

Architecture takeaways

  • AppDelegate is the main source-visible entry or composition anchor for this sample.
  • Framework work reaches UIKit, CoreGraphics 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

Source file Relevant symbols
ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/AppDelegate.swift Cited implementation, AppDelegate, UIKit
ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/Drawing/HoverDrawView.swift Cited implementation, CoreGraphics, HoverDrawView
ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/ViewController.swift ViewController
ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/SceneDelegate.swift SceneDelegate
ApplePencilSampleApp/ApplePencilSampleApp/Drawing/DrawGestureRecognizer.swift DrawGestureRecognizer